Information from District 1 City Councilmember  Lisa Herbold

I wrote last week about hearing from many of you concerned about the encampment at Myers Way.  On May 31st, I requested that the King County Regional Homelessness Authority consider this location for its State-funded work removing encampments in State Right of Way.  The funding supports shelter and services to people living at a site.  I’ve also learned that last week the Executive also reached out to WSDOT (which owns most of the land under the encampment), also recommending the site for joint resolution. I was told that the decision was made recently to move forward with that joint resolution at Myers Way, which I fully support.

Because this work is supported with blended funding, both from the State Right of Way program, King County Funding, and City of Seattle funding, the LEAD Policy Coordinating Group, of which I am a member, also has to agree that LEAD should take on the project.  The City contract for LEAD services requires resources focused on geographic areas.  So, we have LEAD resources specifically focused on South Delridge and Highland Park, you may remember the work they did at the Rosella Building in December and the Roxbury/Delridge Triangle before that.  The Myers Way/Arrowhead Gardens area is not currently included as a focus area, but that will hopefully change.  On Friday, I requested that LEAD refocus its District 1 specific work to Myers Way.  I hope to have an outcome of that request to report out next week.

The City’s Unified Care Team, which responds to encampments, reports it’s been a complex site for the City to work in for several reasons: because the majority of the site is not City property, and

the site has challenging topography and requires an in-depth safety plan that take into consideration EPA regulations in run-off areas, soil saturation levels that affect use of heavy machinery used in site resolutions, and land inclines and soil shifting. 

Nonetheless, the UCT has been on site providing trash mitigation and geo cleans for RVs; along with 3-4 visits per week from outreach workers who also mitigate fire hazards and conduct needs assessments for residents.