Thurston County officials to look into 'tent city' laws

By Keri Brenner | The Olympian • Published August 27, 2008

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OLYMPIA – Thurston County officials are considering whether to add laws for "tent city" homeless encampments and manufactured-home park protections in the wake of some progress on those issues in other areas, commissioners said Tuesday.

Commissioners asked legal staff members to research the issues after an hourlong briefing with Jeff Fancher, deputy prosecuting attorney.

Commissioners said they want Fancher to provide information on efforts in cities such as Tumwater and Olympia, where officials have adopted homeless-encampment regulations.

They also want to invite a statewide expert to speak about a manufactured-home park in northeast Thurston County where residents were successful in avoiding closure by buying their park from their owner.

On the question of homeless-encampment, the commissioners asked Fancher to compile a comparative grid of tent-city laws passed in neighboring cities and counties to see what options they might want to adopt.

There was discussion about whether such a law would pressure churches to take on such encampments — even if they didn't want to — but commissioners held off resolving that issue until they see various options.

"I think the main question is, do you want to have something already in place in advance of a proposal, or do you want to wait until you get a proposal?" said Don Krupp, chief administrative officer.

He said it might be advisable to put a tent-city law in place to reassure neighbors in the county's urban growth area that their safety and health concerns were addressed.

"Without having standards in place, people might be concerned, upset or unsure," Krupp said.

Fancher also said he would compile an inventory of county surplus properties where a homeless-encampment area could be designated.

He warned, however, that there could be "risks and liabilities" in designating a permanent space for a tent city, especially if residents were injured on the property or if neighbors were unhappy about noise.

On the manufactured-home-park issue, commissioners said they would invite Seattle attorney Ishbel Dickens, a statewide specialist on such preservation, to speak at a briefing.

Dickens, of the public-interest law firm Columbia Legal Services, helped residents of the former College Street Mobile Home Park organize as a collective, rename themselves as Hidden Village and purchase their park to avoid eviction.

"It's not an easy issue, but there's got to be a fix out there," Commissioner Cathy Wolfe said.

Commissioners also asked Fancher to research a proposal in Tumwater for a mobile-home-park zoning district. The plan, passed out of City Council's general government committee this month, is scheduled for review by the Planning Commission this fall, said David Ginther, city associate planner. Ginther said the proposal could come before the council by the end of the year.

Fancher said his analysis shows that a zoning district that limits the use of a property to a mobile- or manufactured-home park "would be a taking, and we would have to pay" to compensate property owners, he said.

Keri Brenner covers Thurston County for The Olympian. She can be reached at 360-754-5435 or kbrenner@theolympian.com.