Encampment Transition Plan Elusive as Closure Date Nears

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There is currently no place for the people living behind DSHS to go after the November 3 eviction date. Photo by Scott France  [/caption]

News by Scott France

The City of Port Townsend is sticking with its plan to disband the homeless tent encampment outside the DSHS office, while a group of service providers and public servants struggle to develop viable relocation options.

In mid-September, the City set a date of November 3 to close the encampment. The City has cited multiple code violations and safety concerns, and it needs the area cleared in order to begin steps towards developing the Evans Vista housing project.

Maintaining services to the roughly 30 inhabitants of the encampment is a top priority of the Behavioral Health Consortium (BHC), composed of more than 20 City and County leaders, homeless advocates and providers.

“Moving them at the beginning of winter is inhumane and impossible,” BHC member Julia Cochrane said.

One prominent option discussed during the BHC’s three meetings was to establish a permanent encampment. “A major requirement for both the City and County for a permanent encampment is that there is a provider there to manage it,” Board of County Commissioners Heather Dudley Nollette said.

But with the imminent challenge for those residents soon to lose their home, Commissioner Greg Brotherton said, “We should also start looking at not just a managed encampment, but also a supported unmanaged encampment as a shorter-term fix.”

Mayor David Faber said at the City Council Business Meeting on October 21 that “moving the encampment is not morally justifiable. At the same time, we need service providers to get the campers into a suitable location.”

Port Townsend City Manager John Mauro, who issued the closure announcement in September, stated at the meeting that the City could adjust the sweep date if local providers could propose and apply for a viable encampment site within the city.

If the City received such an application, “we could look at that timeline and do our very honest best to expedite permits. If it takes another week or two, that is certainly something the city would consider,” Mauro said.

Acknowledging that considerable effort is being made to find solutions, Faber called for a special meeting of the Council next week to discuss relevant developments and information.

Dudley Nollette said that some providers indicated interest in encampment management, so the BHC conducted a Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping exercise to locate potential sites using some parameters including: the site must be owned by the City, County or a faith organization; it must be within 30 minutes of Jefferson County Public Health office at Sheridan and Sims Way; it must meet certain city and county conditions for sanctioned encampments. Finally, the group is looking for a site of roughly one to two acres in size, according to Dudley Nollette.

As the days tick by toward the November 3 deadline, BHC members are brainstorming ideas to help transition the campers. The group is exploring having their employees visit one one-on-one with each of the campers to go over a list of options for them in terms of services, resources, and places where they can sleep.

“They’re going to need a combination of resources that’s specific to them,” Dudley Nollette said.

A drug recovery house in Port Townsend has agreed to take in a limited number of people who are in recovery.

Bayside Housing Services has offered to consider one of its properties in Port Townsend as a potential site for housing unhoused people, but that would be a longer-term solution.

The City has not announced any plan for how the encampment would be closed if no viable relocation options are available by the November 3 date.