[Hpn] Seattle TENT CITY Permit Denied - WA USA (fwd)

[Tom Boland]

CIRCULATE PLEASE to nonviolent defenders of Homeless People's Civil Rights:

Seattle Tent City CONTACT: "Anitra Freeman" <anitra@speakeasy.org>
                  SEE ALSO  http://www.speakeasy.org/~anitra/

SEE ALSO http://www.realchangenews.org/issue/current/index.html
         Real Change News
         2129 2nd Ave.   Seattle, WA 98121
         Tel: 206.441.3247
         Email:rchange@speakeasy.org

http://newsfinder.arinet.com/fpweb/fp.dll/$stargeneral/htm/x_dv.htm/_ibyx/cg0302
6/_itox/starnet/_svc/news/_Id/696067925/_k/EWFB2bA0EXv5vh4s
FWD  Associated Press - AP Wire Service - Jan 05, 2221

CITY DENIES REQUEST FOR TEMPORARY PERMIT FOR HOMELESS CAMP

SEATTLE (AP) _ City officials have denied El Centro de la Raza's
request for a temporary permit to allow a tent-city encampment of
about 100 homeless people to stay on the Beacon Hill property of
the Hispanic community center.

Tent City residents had already planned to pull up stakes Jan.
15 or 16, spokesman Roberto Maestas said Thursday. Several other
city sites are being considered for the nomadic community, but he
said he could not discuss them.

The six-month temporary permit was denied because ``we felt that
we simply could not approve housing that fails to meet our most
minimal housing standards,'' said Rick Krochalis, director of the
city's Department of Design, Construction and Land Use.

The decision will be appealed to a city hearing examiner.
Maestas said legal experts believe the tent city is
constitutionally protected under citizens' right to assembly, and a
victory would set a precedent for future encampments.

Dozens of homeless people have lived in ``Tent Village III''
since mid-July _ the longest-term site since the tent city emerged
last spring after emergency winter shelters were closed.

The El Centro site is the only one in which the property owner
tried to get a temporary-use permit.

Applying for the permit cost tent-city residents $2,500, which
they raised through a car wash, Maestas said.

The city's 2001-02 budget includes $4 million in new funding for
homeless shelters, housing, rental assistance and service
initiatives, though it's not clear those facilities could house all
the tent-city residents, said Deputy Mayor Tom Byers.

Many tent-city residents say shelters don't meet their needs,
Byers noted. For example, those with jobs say they can't always
make it back to a shelter in time to secure a bed for the night.

Since 1998, Seattle Mayor Paul Schell's initiatives have helped
increase King County shelter capacity by 20 percent, Byers said.

AP-WS-01-05-01 2306EST
Received  Id AP101005EEB17FD6 on Jan 05 2001 22:06

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