Burien City Council voted in Ordinance #818, a law created to combat the growing unhoused population that has been afflicting the city, as well as the surrounding counties, including Seattle. 

The purpose of this ordinance (officially voted on September 26) is to remove, or clear out unhoused people, though it is written specifically to target people sleeping or pitching tents on publicly owned property. 

You have most likely heard this type of ordinance referred to as an “anti-camping law” a measure used by cities in order to keep people from living on public properties by criminalizing sleeping in public, often during a set curfew, or in a tent structure. 

Burien City Council has had their hands full this year with the entrance of a homeless encampment beginning at City Hall, then a gradual shift west to an empty lot. According to the Seattle Times, almost 50 people were cleared out of the area and “[r]emain on a single roadway median where Ambaum Boulevard Southwest splits into 12^th Avenue Southwest in North Burien.” The growth of this encampment has seen complaints among nearby residents of crime, break-ins, and gunshots.

If anti-camping laws sound familiar, you may have heard of the recent decision by the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit where cities are barred from enforcing “anti-camping laws” if they do not have adequate shelter to offer as an alternative. Martin v. Boise was passed in 2018, declaring that, “homeless persons cannot be punished for sleeping outside on public property in the absence of adequate alternatives.”

Essentially, anti-camping laws are only legal if the city is providing an option for those without shelter. Here, the City of Burien is now reasonably obligated to provide an option to the residents who will be in the crosshairs of Ordinance #818. The most growing option to combat homelessness in Washington, it seems, is Tiny Homes.

Burien City Council Member, Cydney Moore explains that the city is open to working with Tiny Homes in the long run, “[We have] just passed a ban on homeless camping in the city. September 25 was the second vote, an occasion the city needed for final approval, so the start date of the new law will be November 1, 2023. The city still needs to identify land to access the pallet shelters and one million dollars which has been offered to Tiny Homes by the county.” 

Tiny Homes are a growing solution for Washington counties, and have been utilized by Kent, Seattle, and two separate Tukwila locations. Sustainable two-person homes are created by volunteers at the Hope Factory in Seattle, and shipped to villages, where the inhabitants are part of a community managed, in part, by the Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI). 

Red tape and proper zoning are a clear boundary with something like Tiny Homes, as they take vast planning with the city and take more thoughtful insight than a citizen may realize.

The county is considering allowing Boulevard Park as the new location, but it is still up in the air if the lot is even a viable option for the new development. Boulevard Park is currently under a flight path where the unhoused would be constantly subjected to unsafe noise levels. If the city does decide to move forward with this, it will take several months before the homes will be actualized.

Though it was just passed, Ordinance #818 will be officially enacted on November 1 and poses a clear and present threat to the homeless persons in that area who may be swept up and criminally charged.

To make matters more urgent, Burien’s unhoused citizens will soon be facing more than just criminal charges and displacement, they will be facing Washington’s coming winter months – all of which will take place before Tiny Homes can be given time to be installed.

The situation seems dour and poses a serious decision for the city, who is now tasked with following through with the recently passed ordinance. Luckily, this is where the Burien Community Support Coalition comes in.

Led partially by Burien City Council member, Cydney Moore, Burien Community Support aims at keeping the at-risk population afloat while they wait on the approval of the Tiny Homes installment, hopefully in early 2024. 

“If you happen to find anyone who has any ideas for space, we welcome any suggestions,” Moore noted. “The patch of land that people are camping on now is starting to pool water from all the heavy rain and become thick with mud.”

Moore continued, “If we got approval, we could move very quickly. We have plans for operations already, rules/regulations set based on all the input we have gathered from the other organizations running shelters and sanctioned camps, etc.”

For now, Burien Community Support is one of those nonprofits that is being used to find places for those left in the wind, in the wake of the new ordinance. If you or someone you know would like to give, you can contact Burien Community Support or log onto fixhomelessness.org for more information.