Details emerge on safe lot site for Ensign Road RVs that’s drawn emotional opposition
A proposed RV safe lot near the intersection of Martin Way and Carpenter Road could open as soon as mid-December, pending county permit review.
The timeline was announced at an informational meeting on Thursday where city and county officials answered pre-submitted questions in an attempt to soothe the fears of business owners and residents near the proposed site.
Officials are hoping to move approximately 20 residents of RVs currently parked along Ensign Road, where a growing RV settlement is impeding ambulance access to the emergency room entrance at Providence St. Peter Hospital.
Mounting pressure from hospital leadership has pushed local officials to take action on creating a legal RV parking site, an issue they’ve been discussing for years but have failed to make happen.
In late 2020, after ambulances coming from Olympia began rerouting to Lilly Road to avoid colliding with RVs or debris from the settlement, the Regional Housing Council spent months planning a sanctioned RV site in an adjacent city-owned parking lot before abandoning the idea.
Things have gotten worse on Ensign since then. More recently bus service has been suspended, according to Intercity Transit Director Ann Freeman-Manzanares.
“The status quo is not acceptable right now,” said Providence CEO Darin Goss at the Thursday meeting.
Olympia officials pledged to enforce parking restrictions with physical barriers outside the emergency room as soon as an alternative site can be set up. The city also plans to purchase property on Franz Anderson Road, which they are billing as a long-term site for RV parking, but there is no timeline set for that project.
At the Thursday forum, city and county officials and staff fielded questions about safety, enforcement, and how the site would be run.
The RV residents will be chosen by site managers, with the county having veto power, according to Tye Gundel, program coordinator for Olympia Mutual Aid Partners (OLYMAP), which is currently contracted to do outreach to Ensign and other Olympia homeless encampments, and would run the RV site.
Eligibility would be open to those over 18 years old, with priority for the elderly and COVID-vulnerable. No level 2 or 3 sex offenders will be allowed, a policy that’s consistent with other county-funded shelters. Residents must sign a code of conduct that prohibits illicit drug use, and violations could result in warnings, losing specific privileges, or expulsion.
Any crimes committed near the site will be investigated, according to Dave Johnson, a captain with Thurston County Sheriff’s Office. Johnson said that deputies will respond to calls based on severity, if they have enough staff.
“It’s all going to be contingent on our staffing as to whether or not we can assist or get patrols through that area,” Johnson said.
Representatives from the city of Lacey were not present at the meeting, which conflicted with a regular Lacey City Council meeting.
New safe lot different from the old safe lot
The proposed RV safe lot on Carpenter Road is a county-owned gravel lot just across the street from Lacey city limits. It was previously eyed by the county in 2019 as a sanctioned homeless encampment, but that idea was defeated by opposition from Lacey residents and city council members.
Then in 2020, the Regional Housing Council spent six months planning a safe parking site at an adjacent, city-owned lot, but ultimately punted on the idea, this time citing the high cost — over $700,000 — to make the facility habitable and operate it for one year.
“When we got into the details, it just wasn’t going to work,” Assistant City Manager Keith Stahley told The Olympian in March.
Instead, the county voted to spend up to $1 million on a “scattered-site” program, which funds case management and cleaning encampments, including the RV settlement at Ensign.
The new RV safe lot will cost between $400,000 and $450,000 to run for a temporary six-month period, which could be extended only by a vote of the county commissioners. That would pay mostly for 24/7 staffing, as well as drinking water, portable toilets, and dumpsters. The county plans to pay for it with American Rescue Plan funds along with a $100,000 donation from Providence.
According to Tom Webster, housing program manager for the county, the previous $700,000 figure was likely an underestimate and did not include things like portable toilets or garbage removal, so the cost of the new safe lot will cost roughly the same as the previous proposal that was tabled.
Commissioner Tye Menser, who objected to the Regional Housing Council’s decision to abandon the previous RV safe lot plan, said the reason the county did not move forward at that time was more about the small number of RVs being served than cost concerns. Now the situation has escalated and the county has run out of options.
“When they weren’t blocking upper Ensign, there wasn’t really a value to moving half of them,” Menser said. “Now we’re in a situation where Providence came to the county and asked us desperately to partner with them and Olympia and they put $100,000 on the table to help us.”
Business owner backlash
After initially announcing a public meeting, the county postponed the meeting and accepted only pre-submitted questions sent over email. Officials told The Olympian that the meeting had to be moved to fulfill the timeline set out by the county’s emergency shelter permitting process.
The lack of a public forum nonetheless angered some residents and business owners near the proposed site, 13 of whom gave public comment opposing the plan at a Board of County Commissioners meeting on Tuesday.
Objections from those residents ranged from the cost to county taxpayers to the theoretical effect on pocket gopher populations. But much of the opposition was emotional and centered on the belief that the future RV residents would commit crimes against nearby businesses and homeowners, or make the neighbors uncomfortable.
“I just know that I’m going to be terrified to go to work,” said Amy Washington, the sales manager at Titus Will, a used car dealership. “I know that they’re going to be coming in and asking to use our restroom.”
The owners of Debbie’s Dance Etc. and High-impact Dance Studio both said that they didn’t think homeless people should be near “family neighborhoods” or their businesses because they serve children.
Carmen Hebert, the owner of Viking Lounge, which is a bar, said that the nearby businesses, which include bars, cannabis stores, a car dealership, and a junkyard, would be too tempting for the RV residents.
Other commenters argued that Olympia should have to shoulder the burden of homeless services because they believe the city has “mismanaged” the crisis by not sweeping enough camps.
Terry Harp, who lives on Husky Way, objected to what he sees as an attempt to “relocate Olympia’s transient problem to our neighborhood.”
One notable opponent spoke on behalf of the Thurston County Sheriff’s Association, the union that represents the county’s deputy sheriffs, sergeants, and lieutenants.
“The city [of Olympia] handicapped their own police department and absolutely refused to enforce their own municipal codes and RCWs about transient camps,” said Thurston County Sheriff’s Association President Knute Layman.
Asked at Thursday’s meeting if Layman’s opinions represent the sheriff’s office as a whole, Captain Dave Johnson was noncommittal.
“The comments made at the Thurston County Board of Commissioners meeting Tuesday were the opinions of the deputy sheriff’s president,” Johnson said. “Sheriff Snaza has expressed his opinion on this encampment in the past. At this point in time, if the commissioners make the decision to move forward on this project, it’s our job to ensure public safety.”
A spokesperson for the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) said he was unaware of Snaza’s opinion on the subject, and the sheriff is currently out of town. The sheriff was named as an attendee at Thursday’s event but did not attend.
At the county commission hearing on Tuesday, officials from Olympia and one from Lacey, Carolyn Cox, attempted to counter some of the fears of homeowners and business owners.
“I get it that no one relishes the idea of having a homeless encampment – whether it’s tents or RVs – near their business or home,” Cox said. “But this is a temporary measure, and we’ll all benefit from improved access to St. Peter’s hospital.”
Olympia Mayor Cheryl Selby was candid that moving 20 RVs to a safe lot is not a solution to homelessness, but the best the city and county can do to “manage an unmanageable situation.”
“The hard truth is that local governments cannot manage a problem as complex as homelessness, but not trying isn’t an option,” Selby said.
The county applied on Oct 25 for an emergency use permit with the county planning department, which must approve or deny the permit within 28-30 days of submission.
Thurston’s Board of County Commissioners will vote next Tuesday on an agreement with the city of Olympia to move the project forward.
This story was originally published November 7, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
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