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The council moved to amend its zoning regulations to allow the village. It would be perhaps the first of its kind in the nation – a cluster of small, simple structures just for sleeping and a central building with showers and meeting rooms for the village. The plan, put forward by the nonprofit group Panza, is to get the camp out of the cold and rain and into shelter.
“We’re very happy, as you can imagine,” said Jill Severn, chairwoman of the board of Panza, in an interview after the council’s vote.
In moving in favor of the development, Councilwoman Rhenda Strub acknowledged that it’s not perfect. It’s next to an industrial park, which has rankled nearby business owners.
“I think that sometimes the pursuit of the perfect becomes the enemy of the good,” she said, adding, “we have to start somewhere.”
The council’s vote doesn’t approve the development outright. There will be a final vote, likely next week. Then, the camp would have to apply for a conditional-use permit to operate the camp. That would trigger another public process, including another public hearing.
The permit would require that the development is buffered and screened from surrounding properties, according to a staff report.
Severn said Panza’s next step is to apply for the permit.
Dozens of people came to a public hearing last month, most to offer support for the site. Fewer than 10 people spoke in opposition.
Many said they had a business in the industrial park across the street and questioned whether the site was appropriate, as heavy trucks go in and out and there are other industrial uses 24 hours a day.
“Basically, I think everyone knows that Mottman Road is a lousy place to put this place,” said John Peranzi, who owns property that abuts the proposed village site, in the August hearing.
The council didn’t move to change the underlying zoning on the property, which is light industrial. Rather, it added what’s called a text amendment, essentially allowing another use in the zone with certain conditions.
According to its carefully worded language, such a residential project would have to be on property owned by Thurston County and would require a central community gathering space with bathrooms, showers, eating and related facilities. It could have up to 30 living units to serve 40 people.
Thurston County commissioners offered to locate the village on the 1.6-acre piece of county property on Mottman Road west of R.W. Johnson Boulevard. But the City of Olympia has final say because it’s within city limits.
There will also be another opportunity for public input when the Olympia hearing examiner holds a hearing. Camp Quixote, an itinerant tent city that formed in 2007, is required by ordinance to move every 180 days, which its residents say has been a hardship. Before the council changed the rules in July, the camp had to move every 90 days to a new church or faith community.
Camp resident and Vice President Don Hutchings was elated at the council’s move.
“I am so happy about the progress that we’ve made …” he said in an interview. “I just appreciate all the support. It’s awesome.”
Matt Batcheldor: 360-704-6869
mbatcheldor@theolympian.com
