Title
A MOTION declaring a one-year moratorium on the use of county-owned land for emergency temporary homeless encampments; directing the executive to review and make recommendations regarding the availability, suitability and appropriateness of the use of county-owned land for such encampments; and further directing the executive to submit the Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness and a related county action plan for council review and approval.
Body
WHEREAS, homelessness is widely recognized as a growing problem in King County and elsewhere in the nation, and
WHEREAS, some estimates conclude that eight thousand King County residents are homeless on any given night, and
WHEREAS, Seattle Housing and Resource Effort ("SHARE") and the Women's Housing, Equality and Enhancement League ("WHEEL") are nonprofit organizations that advocate and provide services for homeless persons and that have established Tent City 4 in King County to provide a safe community for up to one hundred homeless persons every night, and
WHEREAS, since its initiation, Tent City 4 has sought and successfully obtained sites, support services and other assistance from local churches and other community groups and has been able to move, as planned, every ninety days, and
WHEREAS, SHARE/WHEEL is also seeking sites for Tent City 4 on land owned by the county as well as land under county land use jurisdiction, and
WHEREAS, county properties have been acquired for specific public purposes, and in many cases legal and policy restrictions on use of the property may not allow the use of the property for residential occupancy, and
WHEREAS, the citizens' advisory commission on homeless encampments ("CACHE") was established by the metropolitan King County council in June 2004 to study the issues of temporary emergency encampments, including whether there is a need for homeless encampments, whether these encampments shall be sited on public or private land, or both, and identifying procedural ...

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