Olympia city council approves land purchase for RV safe lot
Olympia City Council approved plans on Tuesday to purchase a 5.9 acre site to develop a sanctioned parking lot for up to 50 people living in RVs.
The city will pay at least $1.65 million for the property on Franz Anderson Road (formerly Stoll Road) in east Olympia, although a final price will be determined by an appraisal that has yet to be completed, according to the contract.
The move comes just days before the city plans to begin sweeping homeless RV residents off Ensign Road, just outside Providence St. Peter Hospital. At 7 a.m. Thursday, the city will launch the first phase of a two-phase project to clear vehicles parked along Ensign. They will clear vehicles parked from Lilly Road to the hospital service road. That portion of Ensign will be closed during the clearing.
On Jan. 12, the second phase of the project will clear vehicles from the hospital service road to Providence Lane.
On Tuesday night, council members also approved a memorandum of understanding with Thurston County, which has agreed to pay 50% of the cost to buy, develop, and manage the site. Olympia will take the lead on buying the land and establishing the site and has set aside $2 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.
Other key details, such as the purchase price and contributions from neighboring cities through the Regional Housing Council (RHC), have yet to be worked out.
This story was originally published December 15, 2021 at 1:06 PM.
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