Bremerton planning to establish areas for authorized homeless encampments on city property

With shelter beds limited and homeless encampments growing in neighborhoods like MLK Way in Bremerton, city leaders appear to have agreed on a plan to address the issue of public camping.

An ordinance proposed for a vote by the City Council on Sept. 6 would outlaw outdoor camping in any park and on streets, sidewalks and the space between streets and sidewalks. However, the rule would also set aside undeveloped, city-owned parcels where the rule would not be enforced, essentially setting up sanctioned encampments in specific, controlled areas while Bremerton Mayor Greg Wheeler continues work on establishing a new temporary shelter in Bremerton that could serve as a resource for the homeless community.

The locations of those unenforced zones have not been specified, after a City Council meeting Wednesday where the draft rules were agreed on.

The city has had an ordinance in place since 2004 that outlaws camping in any park or public space at the penalty of a $105 fine, but it’s not currently enforced. That's due to a 2019 decision from the federal Ninth Circuit Court, known as Martin v. Boise, establishing a precedent that clearing encampments is illegal when there are no available overnight shelter beds available in a jurisdiction.

Bremerton does not have shelter beds available, after the Salvation Army closed its overnight shelter on May 1 and the Kitsap Rescue Mission leaving Sixth Street several years ago. In addition, beds at facilities like Pendleton Place or through other housing programs are not available as temporary shelter.

Wednesday's meeting was the fifth recent session for councilmembers to discuss the camping ordinance, including hearing from residents repeatedly this summer to urge action about the growing situation on MLK Way or to ask the city to establish a shelter or sanctioned area to camp.

Background: Bremerton won't clear encampments, so council opens discussion on changes to current law

Councilmember Eric Younger argued for a single, designated area, saying, "It's going to be easier for a provider of services to go to one city-designated camping area to take care of these people and that's all for law enforcement in case there's a problem."

Councilmember Quinn Dennehy also favored a sanctioned area, emphasizing the ability to install a restroom or drinking water, something the mayor had allocated funds for in the past but has yet to materialized on MLK Way.

"The mayor is already networked into all the other political aspects of the county to figure out how we can pool all our resources," Dennehy said.

But other members contested the city’s responsibility to designate one camping zone, favoring an approach that wouldn't necessarily concentrate all camping in a single area.

"You don't want to have one giant tent city, because that can be problematic," councilmember Jennifer Chamberlin said. "There's going to be situations where people who are unhoused … have court cases pending against each other, so they can't be in the same facility. We need to have diverse options."

After the council agreed to stick with unenforced zones for camping among undeveloped parcels in the written rules, the discussion turned to creating a list of available locations and then publicizing it if the ordinance is approved.

"I think for fairness and community and all things like that, we would need to make those places known to people," City Attorney Kylie Finnell said. "We can't simply say you can't camp here, here and here — good luck finding where you can. There would need to be some way to identify those properties and make that information available to the public, and again, those are different than a city-designated camping area."

The council decided a “living” document, or map of the city’s undeveloped parcels, should be developed and handed out to campers in unauthorized zones. Council President Jeff Coughlin said he expects the list before the Sept. 6 vote.

Under the proposal, violations of the camping ban would be penalized with a $25 fine. Three or more infractions within a two-year period could result in a misdemeanor charge for an individual.

“If the administration is able to set up, essentially, a regulated camping spot that provides services, then that would count as available shelter,” Coughlin said. “So it'll be on the administration to hopefully create more shelter space that we desperately need. They'll have several options at their disposal including, shelters in town, working with Salvation Army, working with the county, but one extra option is a regulated encampment.”

Wheeler stands behind the draft ordinance and will support the council in passing it, but he’s already pursuing other solutions as well.

“The ordinance does not solve the homeless problem in our city and it doesn't solve the camping problem,” Wheeler said. “It regulates it into different areas around the city on publicly owned properties instead of having it concentrated in just one area … that problem will just reemerge in different parts of the city.”

Wheeler’s plan is to rely on the camping provisions of the ordinance only until the winter, he said. His administration is pushing the Salvation Army to open its overnight winter shelter on Nov. 1.

After that, he hopes to have a new overnight shelter set up for those experiencing homelessness when they exit the winter shelter in the spring.

Wheeler has identified an area within Bremerton close to a bus line — the location of which he could not share —where he envisions a 120-bed shelter with rooms for case management operations. Wheeler and his administration are looking into ways to expedite permitting and building installation and are working with partners to secure funding and provide wrap-around services for homeless guests. Wheeler even hopes some type of tiny-home village can be built at the site for a transitional housing option in the future.

If the ordinance passes, law enforcement will be authorized to break up encampments like that on MLK Way, where more than a dozen tents have lined the block through the summer. Residents who are asked to leave will be visited by case managers and law enforcement, who will be required to notify them of the ordinance and distribute a map of undeveloped areas available for camping, Wheeler said. After that, officers will have to cite repeat infractions for unauthorized campers.

“If someone is not going to move if they are requested to move, they need to go to jail,” said Wheeler, who disagreed with the proposed ordinance’s policy on repeat offenses.

“This is one tiny, tiny piece of a huge puzzle,” Coughlin said. “This ordinance alone doesn't tackle providing affordable housing, providing shelter space, all the stuff that I know the city as a whole has been working hard on. This is just one small piece and we're going to continue to keep working hard to get folks the resources they need.”

This article originally appeared on Aberdeen News: Bremerton camp ordinance could break up homeless encampments