Homeless camp that caused rift between city and LGBTQ nonprofit being dismantled after fire
A downtown Olympia homeless encampment that spurred a legal standoff between the city and Stonewall Youth, a nonprofit serving LGBTQ youth, appears the be largely abandoned following a Feb. 2 fire.
Several men were packing up belongings at the camp on Tuesday, although one man who spoke to The Olympian said he was only there to help out. Propane cylinders, tarps, and other items remained on site, although city workers removed some items left behind at the camp on Monday.
A city code enforcement officer who was on scene Monday said he’d seen people pass through but was not aware of anyone inhabiting the camp since the Feb. 2 fire.
No injuries were reported and nearby buildings were unaffected by the 20-foot-by-20-foot fire, the Fire Department told The Olympian last week. However, several compressed cylinders exploded while firefighters were extinguishing the fire, and a makeshift structure was destroyed.
Fire Marshal Mike Buchanan sent a letter to Stonewall Youth on Feb. 4 saying the encampment must be removed immediately due to the presence of gas heaters and combustible materials, which are in violation of fire codes.
“The fire presented life safety hazards to the people in the encampment, the firefighters who responded, and the three other adjacent businesses,” Buchanan wrote.
The camp has driven a wedge between the city and Stonewall Youth, who put out a statement last summer saying they were morally opposed to displacing the campers with so few alternative shelter options.
More than $1,700 in fines were issued to Stonewall Youth since October over what the city calls an “unauthorized emergency housing facility” that has generated complaints over trash spilling into the adjacent alley and onto a privately owned parking lot that serves one of the city’s busiest indoor markets.
Those fines were stayed by City Manager Jay Burney in an attempt to reach an agreement, and Stonewall Youth was given a Jan. 7 deadline to apply for an emergency housing permit. An application was submitted, but was returned by city staff because it was incomplete, according to Community Planning and Development Director Leonard Bauer.
“Stonewall Youth has notified us they are providing the former parking lot residents time to retrieve any belongings, and then will be clearing out the parking lot entirely,” Bauer wrote in an email.
Stonewall Youth’s collective did not respond to inquiries from The Olympian on Tuesday.
City officials have said that approving an emergency housing permit for Stonewall is extremely unlikely given the narrow confines of the space, lack of bathrooms or potable water, and proximity to existing shelters and the city’s mitigation site.
According to Kim Kondrat, the city’s homeless coordinator, the city put up several of the initial residents of the camp in a hotel room, but they were subsequently kicked out for damaging the rooms. Others moved away on their own, or were offered spots at the city’s mitigation site or nearby shelters, but they were soon replaced by new campers, Stonewall Youth wrote in emails obtained via public records request.
This story was originally published February 9, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
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