Nickelsville tent residents given 24-hour eviction notice
Feb 19, 2016, 5:59 PM | Updated: 10:00 pm
This Nickelsville camp was started in 2008. It was the first of many unauthorized, but self-governing homeless camps in Seattle. (AP)
(AP)
A group of Seattle homeless advocates and a church are asking the city for help evicting homeless individuals living in tents on their property.
Residents of a former Nickelsville tent city, one of the largest in the tent-city system at 10th Avenue South and Dearborn Street, have been given 24-hour notice to vacate the donated property they reside on, or be forced out — they have until 12:01 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 20.
Related: From Nickelsville to Murraysville
The tent camp was made possible by sponsorships of the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, Coho Real Estate, and the Low Income Housing Institute. All three organizations have signed a letter to the city and Mayor Ed Murray asking for assistance to evict the tent residents, according to KIRO 7.
But there has recently been an “insurrection,” among the self-governing residents, the Seattle Weekly reports. Residents claim that the man behind the Nickelsville encampments, Scott Morrow, is a “poverty pimp,” who uses gangster like management to use campers as a means to obtain government subsidies.
Morrow, and the other parties involved, claim that that the tent city’s rules of no drugs or alcohol are routinely broken and ignored. After the campers voted to secede from Nickelsville and kick Morrow out last week, the decision was made to close down the tent city. KIRO 7 also reports that residents have begun arming themselves with machetes and clubs for safety, breaking another rule of the camp.
#Breaking @LIHIhousing, Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd and Coho Real Estate ask @MayorEdMurray for help vacating Dearborn encampment.
— Natasha Chen (@NatashaKIRO7) February 20, 2016
Letter wanting #Seattle to vacate Nickelsville site: “due to lack of security many… turned to clubs or machetes for safety” @KIRO7Seattle
— Rob Munoz (@RobKIRO7) February 20, 2016
Letter says encampment leaders took over, disassociated from Nickelsville, rules on drugs and alcohol “routinely flouted” @KIRO7Seattle
— Rob Munoz (@RobKIRO7) February 20, 2016
