Seattle starts homeless camp clearing process on May Day
Apr 28, 2017, 6:47 AM | Updated: 8:36 am
Monday won’t just be a day for May Day marching, and potential mayhem, it will also be the start of the City of Seattle’s next effort to clear an extensive homeless camp along one of the area’s most popular freeways.
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On May 1, Seattle’s Navigation Team will focus on offering alternative shelters and services for campers in a greenbelt lining I-90 from Rainier Avenue to South Dearborn Street. This is a portion of land adjacent to the infamous “Jungle” encampment that was cleared out months ago. The city notes there has been a community group offering support to the people living in this area — providing supplies, meals and collecting trash. But the city argues that the problems stemming from the camps have grown too large.
Recently, Seattle police seized a collection of handguns, rifles, and swords from tents at the northern end of the encampments where I-5 and I-90 meet, after receiving a tip about a methamphetamine operation. No one was present when police served the search warrant.
There have also been a series of violent crimes reported, including an incident involving a woman who was held hostage and assaulted before being stabbed. Another woman was treated at a nearby hospital after a man beat her with a campfire grill in the camp. She was also strangled with an extension cord.
A number of fires have also been started in the area.
Clearing the homeless camp
A portion of the land is slated for Sound Transit to use as a staging area when it constructs the East Link light rail line. The city plans to turn over the stretch between South Dearborn Street and I-90 to Sound Transit on June 1.
Starting on May 16 — two weeks after the Navigation Team begins its work — city officials will begin closing camps and cleaning up areas around Cloverleaf at the southern end of the I-90 stretch. They will move on to South Dean Street and Poplar Place South. Then along South Dearborn Street to 10th Avenue on May 23.
After the camps have been entirely cleared from the area, Seattle will include this stretch in its list of emphasis areas. Emphasis areas are regions where camping has become such a problem that the city continually addresses crime and trash. Under this classification, the city will not be required to give 72-hours notice to oust campers from the area. Seattle allows up to 10 locations to be included on its list of emphasis areas.
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