Walmart encampment property owner pushes back against city’s lawsuit, denies allegations
The owner of the land behind the Bellingham Walmart, where hundreds of unhoused people are living in an encampment, is pushing back against the lawsuit filed against her by the City of Bellingham.
The lawsuit, filed against property owner Li-Ching Fang, alleges that the unhoused are trespassing on the property and the encampment is causing a public nuisance, which violates the Bellingham Municipal Code and state law.
City officials began taking steps to declare the property a public nuisance in November 2022 by attempting to contact Fang and requiring her to abate the encampment.
“The Defendant has taken no steps to abate the nuisance since that time,” the lawsuit states.
In documents filed on March 25, 2024, with the Whatcom County Superior Court, Fang denies the allegations outlined in the lawsuit, alleging the above claim to be “false and groundless.”
Fang’s argument states that upon becoming aware of the issues caused by the presence of unhoused people on her property, she “has taken necessary measures to address the issues caused by the presence of homeless people on the Property and has already hired Abatement & Decontamination Specialists to perform abatement and decontamination of the Property as per the Plaintiff’s instructions.”
She is asking the court not to grant the city of Bellingham an issuance of a warrant of abatement because “it would result in significant harm to Defendant’s interests that would be disproportionate to the overall benefit anticipated by Plaintiff,” documents state.
“Therefore, issuing such a warrant would violate the principles of proportionality and good faith,” documents state.
The documents allege Fang first contacted the Bellingham Police Department on Aug. 21, 2019, and again Dec. 13, 2019, to authorize officers to issue trespass warnings and, when necessary, arrest individuals trespassing on the property.
“However, the police provided very little assistance,” the document states.
The document further alleges that “Under the City’s instruction, Defendant engaged Abatement & Decontamination Specialists” after the city informed her that the cost of doing so would be significantly lower than the costs incurred from requesting the city to perform the same work.
The city’s lawsuit also aims to hold Fan accountable for the property being “overrun with garbage, refuse, waste material, non-operating motor vehicles, and litter,” along with various accounts of criminal activity including the housing of more than 100 stolen shopping carts, drugs and drug paraphernalia.
Fang’s response to the lawsuit further argues that she has never been involved in criminal activities on the property nor contributed to the environmental violations.
This story was originally published April 2, 2024 at 4:40 PM.
