encampments expansion report

Bill Mills DPD - Transitional Encampment Amendment All Zones November 19, 2015

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Transitional Encampment Interim Use Amendments – All Zones, All Property Owners Council Request Per Ordinance 124747 The City Council asked the Department of Planning and Development (DPD) to complete an environmental review and threshold determination on potential amendments to Section 23.42.056 of the Land Use Code, to allow transitional encampments on any public or private property in all zones within the City. This would add residential and NC1 (Neighborhood Commercial 1) zones and non-City, publicly-owned properties where encampments are currently not an allowed use. The amendments would maintain the existing regulations of Seattle Municipal Code (SMC) Section 23.42.056. Specifically, authorized encampments would continue to be limited to no more than three sites at any one time citywide and would also remain subject to the existing regulations for location, operation, permit process, and health and safety standards. In summary, Ordinance 124747 directed DPD to:

x Conduct environmental review on potential amendments allowing transitional encampments as an interim use without restriction by zone or property ownership; and

x Make a SEPA (State Environmental Policy Act) threshold determination, and attempt to report back to the Planning Land Use and Sustainability Committee no later than August 31, 2015

The SEPA determination of non-significance was published August 27, 2015, and no appeal was filed. Council Guidance: Based on Council guidance in a June 18, 2015 memo, the potential amendments would retain all the requirements that currently exist with only the following changes:

x Allow such encampments in all zones (add residential and NC1 zones), and all ownership (add non-City public).

x Since an encampment could be located on a residentially zoned lot under this proposal, eliminate requirement for a 25’ separation from a residential lot and apply a requirement that the encampment portion of a site must be 25’ from a residentially zoned lot.

x Require visual screening if the encampment site is adjacent to a residentially zoned lot that is developed with a residential use, unless the encampment is located 25’ from the adjacent lot line


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Findings: Potential sites, as determined by the methodology described in the Analysis section of this report, include the following (please see attached map): x About 1,500 additional properties in residential and NC1 zones may be eligible, including:

o 46 City-owned sites; o About 280 non-City, publicly-owned sites; and o About 1,180 private, vacant properties.

x About 390 non-City publicly-owned, non-residential zones would also be added.

These are “potential” sites. The analysis selected vacant sites that are over 5,000 square feet in size. However, a thorough site-by-site analysis has not been done to determine characteristics such as appropriate access and location, proximity to transit stops, suitable configuration, whether truly vacant, etc. Such an analysis would likely result in fewer eligible sites. Background On March 30, 2015, the City Council passed Ordinance 124747, effective May 11, 2015. Ordinance 124747 adopted new regulations in the Land Use Code, Section 23.42.056, to authorize a transitional encampment interim use permit for a one-year term. The permit is a “Type I” process that does not provide for formal public notice or appeal opportunities, and may be renewable one time for an additional year, subject to certain criteria. After a maximum of two years at any one site, an existing encampment must relocate to another site under a new interim use permit. A minimum of 12 months must pass after a transitional encampment interim use permit has expired before a new transitional encampment could be established at the same site. Encampments are further subject to detailed management plans. Encampment operators, approved by the City’s Human Services Department (HSD), are required to have past experience managing and operating shelters, low-income housing, or encampments serving low-income, homeless or indigent persons. Existing regulations to be maintained include the following:

x Require encampments to meet the same health, safety, and inspection requirements that have been established for encampments on sites owned or controlled by religious organizations as provided for in SMC Section 23.42.054;

x Establish parking requirements for any vehicles used for shelter and for staff members of encampments that are not located on sites owned or controlled by religious organizations;

x Provide rulemaking authority to: require community outreach to give neighbors advance notice of new encampments and relocation of existing encampments; require formation of a Community Advisory Committee to provide advice on proposed encampment operations; and require specific operational standards to be implemented by encampment operators;

x Require that the operator obtain and maintain liability insurance for use of City-owned property prior to issuance of a permit; and


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x Require that the operator allow service providers, such as social workers, to access the site when located on a City-owned property.

Existing regulations, also to be maintained, further provide that transitional encampment sites are subject to the following requirements:

x Be located on a site that is at least 5,000 square feet in area or larger and that provides a minimum of 100 square feet of land per occupant;

x Be located within one-half mile of a transit stop; x Be located at least one mile from any other legally-established transitional encampment

use, including encampments on property owned or controlled by a religious organization, except that encampments on property owned or controlled by a religious organization or any encampment of fewer than ten persons are not subject to the dispersion requirement;

x Be located outside of wetland, wetland buffer, known or potential landslide area, steep slope, steep slope buffer, and fish and wildlife habitat areas (which includes areas within the Shoreline District as designated in Chapter 23.60A of the Land Use Code) governed by the City’s regulations for Environmentally Critical Areas;

x Not be used by an existing legally-permitted use for any Land Use Code or permit-required purposes including but not limited to parking or setbacks; and

x Not be an unopened public street right-of-way or designated as a park, playground, viewpoint, or multi-use trail.

Encampments must also meet specific health, safety, and inspection requirements, including a limit of 100 encampment occupants. These requirements are currently established in Sections 23.42.054.B and C. In addition to the standards in the Code, encampment operators are required to enter into a contractual arrangement with the hosting entity (private property owner, lessee, or the City) similar to the hosting agreements that have been used between religious facilities and encampment operators, that will address encampment rules for the purpose of promoting good neighbor relations. Agreements between the religious facilities and encampment operators include prohibitions on alcohol, drugs, and possession of weapons; rules for children within the encampment; and prohibiting sex offenders within the encampment. Analysis The potential amendments would broaden opportunities for siting encampment facilities in the city, on an interim basis. At transitional encampments, people reside in temporary shelters like tents, and specific rules for operation, management and security are established. Identification of Potential Sites: Research using the City’s Geocortex land use mapping system shows that the Council’s requested SEPA analysis of potential amendments would add about 1,500 potentially eligible properties in residential and NC1 zones would be added to the existing parcels eligible for


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encampments in the non-residential zones covered by the existing regulations. Of these, about 46 are City-owned sites, and about 280 are non-City publicly-owned sites within residential or NC1 zones. Owners of these sites include King County, Sound Transit, Seattle Housing Authority, the Port of Seattle, and similar public agencies and organizations. In addition, about 390 non-City, publicly-owned sites located in the existing allowed nonresidential zones would also be added. Allowing privately owned sites within residential and NC1 zones to host encampments would add about 1,180 parcels that may qualify under the existing standards in Section 23.42.056. These sites are not within critical areas and have an area of at least 5,000 square feet. They are also mapped as vacant properties. This is in addition to the approximately 475 vacant, privately owned sites in the non-residential zones. Research Methodology: The following methodology was used to determine which sites are potential encampment sites. Geocortex allows access to King County property data for every parcel in the city. That data includes a classification of existing use that shows whether the land is vacant, unused (may contain a structure not in use) or in a particular use. . The Assessor’s vacant classification includes parking lots, vacant land, and parcels used for outdoor storage. The parcel data also includes square footage for each parcel and the zone in which the property is located. Additional research may be performed in the future for parcels to determine if they could meet other approval criteria in the current code and/or draft potential amendments. Each site can then be reviewed using the County Assessor and City of Seattle property data to determine if the property would meet the criteria identified in Section 23.42.056, including: sufficient area to accommodate up to 100 persons; sufficiently level to accommodate tents or other shelters and facilities; whether the property is within a half mile of a transit stop; whether the property has sufficient area that is not within an environmentally critical area (steep slope, wetland, or similar feature); and that the property is not designated as a park, playground, viewpoint or multi-use trail. DPD permit records may also show whether there are any active existing uses on the property. In addition, research involves a determination of whether an encampment on each property could comply with the health and safety requirements of SMC Section 23.42.054.B, including access to running water, access to garbage collection, suitable location for providing food and bathroom services, and potential to provide parking for vehicles used as shelter or for workers who might assist encampment residents. Initial research focused on lots identified as vacant, and excluded sites that contain critical areas or that are classified as a park, playground, viewpoint or multi-use trail. The analysis assumes that public and private sites in active use will not generally have space to devote to encampments. Each site would be subject to further evaluation using the standards required by Section 23.42.056, as part of the permit process for transitional encampment interim use permits. Since that evaluation will likely eliminate some sites that lack proximity to transit and that


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cannot meet the one-mile dispersion requirement, the total number of useable sites will be somewhat fewer than the raw totals cited above. Summary As directed by Ordinance 124747, the SEPA analysis of draft potential amendments would expand the areas within the city where a transitional encampment may be located to include residential zones and the Neighborhood Commercial 1 zone. This would also allow encampments on public properties not owned by the City. Potential additional sites include the following: x About 1,500 additional properties in residential and NC1 zones may be eligible, including:

o 46 City-owned; o About 280 non-City, publicly-owned sites; and o About 1,180 private, vacant properties.

x About 390 non-City, publicly-owned sites in non-residential zones would also be added.

encampments expansion report

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