The City of Bellingham has formed an internal team to address unauthorized homeless encampments, and established a web page to provide updates on private and public properties impacted by the camps.
The city’s team was created to produce “comprehensive solutions and actions to address the current problem locations and also to prevent new ones,” Mayor Kim Lund said on Monday, Sept. 16.
The focus is currently on two unauthorized encampments on private property: an encampment at Northwest Drive and East Bakerview Road, and an encampment at East Stuart Road and Deemer Road behind Walmart, Lund said at a Monday city council meeting.
Since February, the city has been in legal proceedings with the primary property owner of the encampment behind Walmart, and recently issued a criminal citation and two civil infractions against one of the property owners of the Northwest and Bakerview encampment, she said.
“We are actively pursuing actions at these locations,” Lund said. “We remain committed to finding long-term solutions that balance public safety, private property rights and the wellbeing of those individuals experiencing homelessness, substance use problems or behavioral health challenges.”
Both encampments span multiple private properties, owned by different people and entities, Lund said.
“While the city is responding as quickly as possible within our authority and resources, it is private property owners that bear the responsibility to address unauthorized encampments on their land,” she said.
Lund said Bellingham Police have been conducting extra police patrols around both encampments to deter criminal activity and address public safety. The city has also been working directly with the property owners to offer “technical assistance” for the cleanups.
“I convened a productive meeting with the property owners of the parcels impacted by the Northwest Drive and West Bakerview Road encampment,” Lund told council members Monday night. “Together, myself and the city team, urged them to take collective action to secure their properties.” Lund said she also attended a community meeting with neighbors and surrounding businesses on the encampment.
The city expects the cleanup of the encampment behind Walmart to cost $4 to $6 million, according to a city web page. Since the city filed a lawsuit against the primary property owner Li-Ching Fang in February, the company that owns the neighboring Tullwood Apartments joined the suit as an intervenor.
Around 50 to 150 homeless people live on the property behind Walmart. Some people have lived there for years and told Cascadia Daily News earlier this year that they don’t have anywhere else to go.
Lund said in her statement to city council that the city offers and funds “extensive programs” for homeless people, with the city and county investing a combined $15 million annually in housing support.
A hearing on the suit will take place on Sept. 25, to determine whether the encampment is considered a public nuisance. At that hearing, the city will request the court set a deadline to clean up their portion of the encampment, according to the city web page, as well as seek authorization to inspect the property after that deadline.
Charlotte Alden is CDN’s general assignment/enterprise reporter; reach her at charlottealden@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 123.
