Bellingham council had these concerns about suggestions for homeless emergency ordinances
The Bellingham City Council declined to move emergency ordinances forward last week that would allow temporary tent encampments in city parks and public lands.
The council directed city administration to review and provide feedback about the ordinances and their implementation at its Feb. 8 evening meeting. The ordinances were brought to the council by a group of community members. They would have suspended the prohibition on overnight camping during the duration of the COVID-19 public health emergency. They also would have declared an emergency and adopted interim zoning regulations for 60 days allowing the establishment and operation of tent and temporary building encampments, according to documents filed with the council.
City administrators found the proposed ordinances:
▪ Lacked location criteria that would determine which parks or public lands could be used for encampments and those that could not.
▪ Lacked occupancy or space limitations.
▪ Did not address requirements to meet sanitary, potable water and electricity needs.
▪ Did not address or require consistency with COVID-19 safety precautions.
▪ And, other boards and committees would need to look over the proposed ordinances.
After reviewing the ordinances, city officials recommended that the council not adopt them Monday, Feb. 22.
In a committee of the whole meeting on Monday the city council members discussed but ultimately declined to move the proposed ordinances forward. Several council members expressed interest in looking at ways to more responsibly accommodate people who are living unsheltered outside and remain focused on preparing warming shelters for next year’s winter weather.
Because the council declined to move the ordinances forward, they died in committee and no action was required to be taken during the council’s evening meeting.
Clearing another encampment
Bellingham Mayor Seth Fleetwood said Monday it remains the city’s intention to clear the temporary tent encampment in the lower parking lot of Frank Geri Softball Fields.
The city provided notice in early February that residents of the encampment had to move themselves and their belongings by 4 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 5. As of Friday, Feb. 26, the city had not taken action to clear the encampment near the ball fields.
A homeless tent encampment, known as Camp 210, started in November on the lawns of Bellingham City Hall and the Bellingham Public Library as an occupied protest over the lack of shelter available in the area for homeless people.
The city spent nearly $75,000 on the Jan. 28 removal of the downtown tent encampment, which was cleared a day before the city’s deadline for the homeless encampment to leave. Protesters used wooden pallets to block officials from clearing the encampment, while volunteers helped the encampment move to the lower parking lot near the ball fields.
Fleetwood said while the city will continue to work on clearing the encampment near the ball fields, the city’s efforts will be less in scale compared to the Jan. 28 removal. He said the situations with the two encampments are dramatically different on a number of levels.
Fleetwood said he has directed a group of people to put together recommendations that can be provided to people staying at the encampment near the ball field and that there are plans to reach out and attempt to get people engaged or re-engaged with social service providers. Once that happens, then ending the encampment will be addressed, he said.
The city also announced earlier last week that it has partnered with a pair of non-profit organizations to operate a tiny home village in the Puget neighborhood. The village is expected to open in late spring, according to the city.
Warming site report
The city operated a temporary warming site at Depot Market Square in downtown Bellingham from Feb. 9 - Feb. 16 during the inclement weather that brought inches of snow to Whatcom County.
The warming site, which had a maximum capacity of 35 people, was open to anyone experiencing homelessness.
If residents left the warming center after 10 p.m., which is when lights out started, they were not allowed back in until 7 a.m., Bellingham Parks and Recreation Department Director Nicole Oliver, said during the council meeting.
Approximately 460 volunteer hours were worked by 88 volunteers, with three to four people working at a time in four-hour shifts, Oliver said. The city had initially hoped the warming site could be run entirely by volunteers, but it required 24/7 trouble-shooting by parks department staff with law enforcement on standby, Oliver said.
The first two nights people trickled in, but more people showed up as the weather worsened throughout the weekend, she said. By Saturday morning, rules that were put in place, such as COVID-19 safety and weapons precautions, were not being followed. Parks staff couldn’t count the total number of guests in the shelter, Oliver said.
Parks staff called law enforcement after several guests became agitated and doors at the warming site remained locked, with volunteers being the only ones allowed to let people in or out of the emergency shelter, she said.
Six people were trespassed from the warming site by police, staff and volunteers on Saturday, Oliver said.
In total, 23 calls were made to 911, 16 of which required law enforcement help, during the time the warming site was being operated. Eight of the calls were for emergency medical services, Oliver said.
Throughout its operation, staff trespassed nine people from the warming site. Nearly 368 people signed in and out of the warming site in the course of seven days, she said.
An average of 28 people stayed the night at the warming site, she said.
Representatives from social service agencies, such as the homeless outreach team and Opportunity Council, visited the warming site every day and connected residents with services, rooms or other social service agencies, Oliver said.
She said the effort to staff the warming shelter was on par with a large parks event, and thanked the volunteers and donations from the community.
