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I’m tuning into a webinar about the safe camping sites proposed for two church parking lots in Capitol Hill. At the beginning of the meeting, there were 172 attendees, so I imagine that number is going to keep growing.
So far, people that are introducing themselves in the Zoom chat have expressed a variety of perspectives, ranging from enthusiastic support to extreme opposition. One homeowner on Pearl Street said “concerned but open to listen.”
This is a very contentious issue and it’s reflected in the chat comments. One thing I’ve noticed is that residents in neighborhoods where there has already been significant unsanctioned camping seem to have had bad experiences with that and view that as what’s going to happen.
Proponents of these safe camping sites have stressed that these sites will not be like the unsanctioned encampments in Denver. There will be rules, belongings will have to be kept in tents, and there will be 24/7 staffing.
Most importantly, there will be toilets, sinks, mobile showers, mobile laundry. There will be fire department-approved heaters. Social distancing and masks will be required.
One noteworthy comment I’m seeing repeated in the chat is that neighbors feel like they haven’t been able to provide input about whether these safe camping sites should be set up in Capitol Hill.
This is accurate. Service providers are doing this on private land and only have to apply for a zoning permit. Since there’s no resining happening or a lease of city owned property, City Council will not be voting on this. So the community outreach requirement is lower.
The community outreach is less of a “can we do this with your permission?” and more of a “we are going to do this and we hope that we can let you know how this model is different from what you see in unsanctioned camps.”
One of the church pastors is saying that this will make the status quo better in Capitol Hill. If that does pan out, then I imagine safe camping sites will become more popular across the city and they will grow in number.
Some are asking in the chat “where is the city in all of this?” The City has given the green light to allow these encampments to happen. Service providers and churches are handling these first two sites. But it’s highly likely that the city will end up funding future sites.
The city issued a request for proposal for site suggestions and is now in the process of choosing sites. Could be city-owned, could be private property. We’ll know the choices from that request for proposal sometime in December.
The 1st site will be located in this parking lot next to the First Baptist Church. This is on the southwest side of Grant and 14th. I spoke with a resident of an apartment across the street and a barber who works at the hair salon across the street. They had interesting thoughts.
In short, both said that the city has not done a good job on the issue of homelessness. (They used very colorful language to say this). They also said that an encampment that set up over the summer on Logan Street, a block over, caused issues for businesses and residents.
That encampment sprung up after the summer sweep of the huge encampment in Lincoln Park. It was cleared out some weeks ago.
The two people that I spoke with then concluded by saying, look, this would be better than the status quo. And if no other neighborhood will do it, sure, we’ll take it on.
This First Baptist Church site will be for 30 women and trans individuals. 22 tents in total. Dogs allowed too. No guests tho.
I said the most important part of this site before without mentioning the actual most important part! No need to worry about being swept. That’s huge.
