Time is ticking down for almost a dozen of Puyallup’s homeless who have spent the past year camping in cars and other vehicles in Puyallup Nazarene Church’s parking lot.
Church pastors began receiving complaints from the city in March about the situation and have decided to give the homeless campers one final week to remain in the parking lot, said Dan Alldridge, who helps coordinate’s the community’s Freezing Nights program which houses the homeless during winter months.
Many of the men and women staying in the parking lot were first patrons of the program.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” he said. “They become your friends.”
Puyallup City Manager Gary McLean said he doesn’t enjoy evicting anyone from the parking lot but camping is illegal within the city limits. Especially considering the camping is not weather-related, it’s time for them to move along, he added.
“Neighborhoods have a right to some sort of feeling of safety,” McLean said.
Alldridge said the homeless who stay in the parking lot are harmless. Each one has passed a background test through the Washington State Patrol and though they usually have drug or alcohol related offences, there are no offenses involving injuries to other people.
He has no problem turning away people with a record of assault or violence. And homeless campers are told that if they are going to drink or do drugs, they need to find a different location.
“They basically aren’t causing any grief whatsoever,” he said.
The only thing he has heard about is people urinating in neighboring flower beds, but when he’s investigated he hasn’t observed or smelled anything. In fact, he said, anywhere they stay is kept tidy.
He believes what drew attention to the group was one camper in March living in an ugly bus that was hard to ignore.
Concern was sparked in the community, McLean said, when there was a fire in a bus parked on the property and the Puyallup Fire Department had to respond.
Half of the homeless staying there are employed, Alldridge said, but need a place to shower and get ready for work each day. Even with a job, it’s difficult to save up for the initial costs of moving into an apartment.
Alldridge said church officials felt it was the right thing to let people camp in the parking lot. He still believes the church should be allowed to provide this service. He had proposed putting a porta-potty near the collections of cars and asking the Puyallup Police Department to check in on the group from time to time in an effort to calm and fears. His suggestion, though, was shot down.
McLean said the church could have applied for a temporary use permit which could have allowed them to have people stay on the property for specific periods of time. Temporary use permits, however, are not always awarded and allow for neighbors to voice their opinion.
The final product, McLean said, generally has provisions from all sides involved. In this case, though, the church didn’t file for a permit.
In the end, he said, it’s been a win-win for both the city and the church. The church lent a helping hand to those in need but understands where the city is coming from.
“We appreciate the church’s charitable efforts,” McLean said.
The church, he said, wants to be a good neighbor.
The city has provided the church with a list of names and agencies to help those who have been living in the parking lot and Alldridge said Puyallup Nazarene is dedicated to helping it be an easy transition.
Finding another spot for them to go is going to be a difficult task, he said.
“For me, it’s a pretty sad thing,” Alldridge said.
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