Republicans stymie bid to make it easier to open homeless shelters in Pierce County

An emergency land-use ordinance that would have removed some regulatory barriers to allow more temporary homeless shelters to be built in unincorporated Pierce County failed Tuesday afternoon in a split vote.

Democrats Ryan Mello, Robyn Denson, Jani Hitchen and Marty Campbell voted in favor. Republicans Dave Morell, Paul Herrera and Amy Cruver voted against. At least five members needed to vote in favor for the emergency ordinance for it to pass. There were no amendments proposed.

The vote came after nearly two hours of public comment. There was emotional testimony from shelter organizers, people who are currently homeless in Pierce County, people who have benefited from shelter services, as well as other residents, the majority of whom spoke in favor of the ordinance. Some who testified against the measure said the county shouldn’t prioritize helping the homeless community over other “law-abiding citizens” and should take a more aggressive approach to crime and mental health treatment.

The emergency ordinance, sponsored by Mello, Denson and Hitchen, would have made it easier to build more emergency shelters by removing some regulatory barriers for Temporary Housing Communities. Temporary Housing Communities include tent encampments, tiny-house encampments, outdoor encampments, emergency-shelter sites and stability sites.

Mello clarified in the meeting that Temporary Housing Communities are not unsanctioned homeless encampments and cited examples of successes existing Pierce County tiny-home villages have seen with rules, on-site case managers, services, housing and employment help.

Under the ordinance Temporary Housing Communities would still have been regulated by Pierce County and required approval from the director of Human Services. If the ordinance had passed, it would have gone into effect for six months, with the possibility of another six-month extension after a public hearing and findings of fact.

Discussion to continue next week

In the meeting Mello, Denson, Hitchen and Campbell said the council needs to take more immediate steps to address the lack of available shelter space in the county, emphasizing that the county saw a 23% increase in homelessness from last year, a record. In 2023, 295 people experiencing homelessness died while unsheltered in Pierce County, according to the Tacoma/Pierce County Coalition to End Homelessness. That’s a 77% increase from 167 people who died in 2022, as previously reported by The News Tribune.

The Democrats on the council expressed frustration at the pace the council has taken to address homelessness and called upon Republicans to support the ordinance or bring forward amendments.

“I certainly hope we get a fifth vote tonight because this is not political theater. This is real people, real lives, real projects,” Mello said before the roll-call vote. “If we let politics get in the way and misinformation get in the way, I’m going to be incredibly disappointed that folks are not putting their responsibility to house our community and add one more solution to the toolkit.”

Before the vote, Herrera expressed concerns about veterans being used as political pawns in the shelter debate and worried about the impact of stability sites on neighbors. He also expressed concern about whether building more stability sites in unincorporated Pierce County would make it harder for people experiencing homelessness to find services or use public transportation.

Cruver said there is a need for shelters but added, “The need isn’t going to be fulfilled by building and building and building” in rural areas. Cruver also expressed concerns about the cost to maintain shelters as well as the homeless-industrial complex at large.

“I don’t know what the answer is, because all over the world we’ve got humans that are exposed to the elements, and there’s just no easy fix to the human condition,” she said. “This isn’t really an emergency. There’s decades of poor decisions that are made by the government and people, and this is life. Anyone can find themselves without shelter, and I think it’s unreasonable to change our codes by claiming an emergency because it’s giving the illusion that we only care about a specific group.”

Next week Mello said the council would be hearing another ordinance about Temporary Housing Communities with input from Planning and Public Works director Jen Tetatzin, who said at the meeting her department “was not invited to assist in the drafting of this ordinance, and we haven’t had a lot of time to digest it.”

Tetatzin said Tuesday evening her staff would love to work with the council to add amendments to the ordinance “to ensure that we can both support implementation of your intent and reduce the county’s risk.”

Shelter projects at risk

At least two known shelter projects would have benefited from the interim regulation proposed Tuesday. A tiny-home village the Low Income Housing Institute is building in Spanaway is awaiting land-use approval, and the FOB Hope Veterans Homeless Village is still looking for a new site after the land it once used was reclaimed by Tacoma Public Utilities.

A Pierce County Council staff report dated July 9 said LIHI has encountered regulatory barriers in the permitting process that have prevented siting in Spanaway. Additionally, $2.5 million of American Rescue Plan Act funding previously allocated by the council for a stability site could be returned to the federal government if it is not allocated under contract by the end of the year.

Pierce County senior policy analyst Erika Rhett Hunt told the council in several July study sessions the ordinance was considered an “emergency” given the most recent Homeless Point-in-Time count, which showed a 23% increase in homelessness compared to 2023, with 59.4% more of those people living in unsheltered conditions (like on the streets or in a tent or their vehicle). Only the Pierce County Executive, Bruce Dammeier, has the power to declare a local state of emergency on homelessness, which has not happened.

“With the upcoming closure of Pierce County’s only sanctioned Veteran’s tent encampment, Forward Operating Base, existing shelter space is expected to decrease,” the staff report said. “In the absence of emergency shelter or permanent housing, people are at risk of living in unsanctioned encampments that may be exposed to the elements, lack of sanitation, hygiene facilities and safety and exposure to extreme weather, vectors of disease and violent crime.”

Regulatory barriers that prevent the establishment of emergency housing and emergency shelters were identified by the Planning and Public Works Department and are already part of the department’s work plan. The regulations wouldn’t be due for adoption until Dec. 31, which means they wouldn’t be updated in time for ARPA dollars to be spent, according to the staff report.

What would the ordinance have changed?

The interim emergency regulations were based on Pierce County’s existing Safe Parking regulations, which include general provisions for site safety, security, operations, sanitation, on-site supervision, code of conduct, background checks and public notice. The regulations also were based on best practices in other cities that have seen success in running emergency-shelter sites, including Tacoma, Shoreline and Bellingham, the July 9 staff report said.

Under the changes religious organizations, nonprofits and government entities could apply for a Memorandum of Understanding to create a Temporary Housing Community. After review from the Human Services director and a community meeting with neighbors, an approved Temporary Housing Community would be authorized to operate for 180 days (an increase from the current 90-day maximum), with a possible 180-day extension, according to the report.

Site standards would include a maximum of 100 inhabitants based on area (an increase from a prior 60 inhabitants maximum), a fence enclosure, an on-site operations manager present 24 hours a day, no new permanent structures, a resident screening requirement for active warrants for violent or sex offenses, minimum standards for hygiene facilities, approved areas for food storage and preparation, approved fire and emergency safety measures, adequate waste disposal, shoreline buffers and two parking spaces per 25 residents, among others.

The idea is these sites would be low-barrier, but operators could create their own screening criteria and rules, Rhett Hunt clarified at a July 2 study session. The ordinance does not explicitly prohibit drug or alcohol use on site, but does require applicants submit a written code of conduct for inhabitants, site managers, sponsors and volunteers, as well as an operations and security plan prior to approval, according to the measure.

Rhett Hunt said the ordinance doesn’t specify what social services operators have to provide to residents, but says “the site provider should be preparing the occupants to find more permanent housing solutions during its operations.”

Efforts made to transition people into other temporary, long-term or more stable housing, as well as a report documenting the status of jobs, skills or behavioral training would be documented in a report to the Human Services director to review upon approval of contract extensions, the ordinance said.