After considering six alternative sites for the transitional homeless encampment in Ballard, the City has decided to establish the transitional encampment site at its originally proposed location at 2826 NW Market Street.
The City announced this in a letter that was signed by Mayor Ed Murray and Councilmen Mike O’Brien.
“As we have begun to experience the fall and winter months, it is vital that we provide those experiencing homelessness with safe, secure places to stay as soon as possible. Due to the great need in our streets, we will move forward with siting an encampment at the Market Street location.”
The letter explained that the City worked with community stakeholders and the Ballard Chamber of Commerce in siting six other potential locations in the area. After a few weeks of examination the City found that not one of the sites were a good fit because of time constraints, need to change laws, lack of outreach to the nearby communities and probable environmental remediation to some sites.
“We spent a number of weeks researching and analyzing these sites for possible use within the parameters of the encampment legislation passed earlier this year. However, after a thorough analysis, we have determined that the sites were either not available for encampment use or did not meet code requirements.”
However, the City explained that they would continue to look for an alternative site.
“At the same time, the City of Seattle will continue reviewing and evaluating a possible alternative location to the Market Street site that may meet the criteria set by the ordinance which authorizes encampments,” wrote the Office of the Mayor’s Chief of Staff, Michael Fong in a statement. “However, for it to work, this location will require the City to address a number of outstanding legislative, environmental, and safety issues first. This will take months to complete. Until those issues are resolved, the City will move forward with the process to stand up the Market Street site.”
There was one site in particular they found to be a potential site in the future. O’Brien told the Ballard News-Tribune that a site – he would not disclose the exact location – off Leary near the Fred Meyer could be a potential alternative site, but it would require changing the ordinance and may need environmental remediation, which would take some time.
“I think there is potential for this site. It’s probably three months at the best, six months is more realistic for how soon we could have that site prepared and ready for a move,” said O’Brien.
Meanwhile, the City has designated Nickelsville to manage the Ballard site. Incidentally, the Nickelsville lease is set to expire next month, and they will be moving their community by Oct. 31. Where will they move? O’Brien told the BNT that there will be residents from the site moving to the NW Market Street site and possibly to the new encampment site in Interbay, which is set to be ready around the same time.
O’Brien also said that the urgency to set up the new camps in Ballard and Interbay has more to do with the weather than it does with the Nickelsville lease expiring. He reported that part of the camp is adjacent to a potential slide area and with winter rains looming, the City wants to move those residents away from that location soon.
“My understanding is that the site in Interbay is going to be open Oct. 31. The urgency from my perspective is probably more around the seasonal change in the weather and the safety of the people there. … We just don’t think it’s safe.”
“Some of those folks from my understanding are coming to Market Street. … My expectation is that there will be outreach to get folks that meet the criteria to go on to that site, but I suspect that a lot of folks – at least originally – will be coming from the Nickelsville site.”
The Market Street encampment would likely house around 40 individuals. With residents already coming from another part of the city, the BNT asked O’Brien what benefit the encampment would have for the homeless already living in Ballard.
“The hope is that there will be space there, but there certainly is not going to be enough to make a sizeable difference.”
The Office of the Mayor was also asked the same question, but they have not responded.
The BNT also asked why tents are being used as a primary structure for housing the homeless and if the city has considered using more tiny houses. The Tulalip Tribe has already donated four tiny houses for use at the Ballard site. The houses are eight by12 feet and cost $2,500 in materials to construct. The Tribe volunteered their time. Tiny houses are also easily moved with a flatbed truck.
Volunteers from Tulalip Tribe’s construction apprenticeship program, TERO, in front of one of the tiny houses they constructed. Photos by Steve Rowland.
“I do support tent encampments, but it’s not, frankly, a point of pride. I think it’s a point of embarrassment that in a City as wealthy as ours that we’re talking about housing people in tents…and yet I do believe that as an emergency measure for folks living in crisis it is an improvement and a way to stabilize them and connect them with services.”
“I think its something (tiny houses) we are actually very interested in. …The tiny houses are a great option. Frankly, once we get this encampment up and running, and we can shift from ‘how do we get it sited?’ to ‘how do we actually run it,’ I think you’ll see a lot of energy.”
With that said, O’Brien mentioned that the City plans to expedite tent-city residents moving into housing through the City-run onsite services – something they have not done before.
“One of the things that’s going to be different with this site – and we haven’t done this before, and we are going to do it in Interbay a couple weeks beforehand – is that we will have services onsite, and we are going to be trying to transition those folks into housing. … My hope is that we will start folks through that site and quickly create more spaces.”
The City’s decisions comes as a disappointment to some in the Ballard Community, including stakeholders and the Ballard Chamber of Commerce who collaborated with the City to identify an alternative site.
The Ballard Chamber of Commerce issued a statement regarding the City’s decision.
“The Ballard Chamber remains strongly opposed to the use of the Market Street site as a homeless encampment,” wrote the Chamber. “The Chamber has been very clear from the outset that we are not opposed to a temporary homeless encampment in Ballard. We believe Nickelsville residents deserve compassion and dignity from the community, regardless of the encampment location. We only oppose the Market Street site location and the failed process that led to its selection.”
The letter goes on to argue that the City could have moved Nickelsville residents to a temporary location in SODO while the City Council makes amendments to the encampment ordinance along with an environmental remediation in order to prepare the near Fred Meyer.
They also argued that the site matches the City’s idea of a “win-win-win” situation for an alternative site: a positive outcome for the homeless, the City and Ballard residents and business owners.
The Chamber also argued that the alternative site would not cost taxpayers in monthly rental fees because Seattle City Light does own the alternative site but does own the NW Market Street location.
They also said that the alternative site they proposed would have been more practical and beneficial to the homeless because it would be able to house more individuals than the NW Market Street site and that it would have been cleared and ready for use within four to five weeks.
“Sadly, this did not happen.”
“We are disappointed in the process and feel we worked hard to bring a real credible alternative, and it didn’t seem like there was a real willingness on the part of the City or Nickelsville to really champion that and move that forward,” said Mike Stewart, Executive Director of the Ballard Chamber of Commerce. “At the same time we are in the position to absolutely respect the residents that are going to be there, and we would encourage the rest of the community to do so.
A public meeting will be held this Monday Oct. 19 at Trinity United Methodist Church (6512 23rd Ave NW in Ballard) to discuss further plans for the encampment on NW Market Street.
