SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES
Dori: Olympia Toy-Restorer ordered by County to kick disabled friend off his property
May 11, 2022, 6:16 PM
With nine sprawling acres he owns off Old Highway 101 in Thurston County, Don Wolph used to feel like he had enough land. Not only is there space for his longtime toy refurbishing business – OlyToys – but he believed there was also room to help a disabled friend in need of a free place to park and live in her 30-foot motor home.
That was until county officials found out about the RV, Wolph told The Dori Monson Show.
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Now, Wolph told Dori’s listeners, Thurston County officials have told him he and his wife of 47 years must evict their friend because “she cannot live on my property for more than 30 days.”
This shocked Wolph, who couldn’t understand why derelict RVs line many local streets – many of them for months – while his private property was being targeted.
“It’s selective enforcement,” Wolph said.
It started when medics responded to his property in February when his friend, Tammy Town, suffered a heart attack. Once inside her motor home, emergency responders found 13 Shih Tzus – small-breed dogs she brought with her from Centralia, where she was a licensed breeder.
This triggered a call to Thurston County Animal Services because Town’s license didn’t transfer with her move. Wolph and Town responded by “re-homing six” of the dogs. The rest were moved from the motor home into a 150-foot dog run Wolph built.
Wolph told Dori he makes sure Town’s RV has power from an electrical extension he strung up; a cord any longer would be a fire hazard, he says. He also fills her water and propane tanks regularly and dumps her sewage into his septic tank.
“She needs help. She has trouble walking,” Wolph said, adding that volunteers take her to kidney dialysis three times a week.
“It’s not right,” Wolph, 70, told Dori about the county’s response. “She disabled. This would just throw her out in the road.”
Listen to Dori Monson weekday afternoons from noon – 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.
