As we’ve been reporting, the city is about to launch another “remediation” at the 6+-year-old mostly-RVs encampment along SW Andover between 26th and 28th SW. The remediations in December and April only resulted in junk removal, but there are indications this one will be more sweeping. Last night, we reported on an announcement from West Seattle Health Club that it had been told the area will be entirely cleared. We’ve gone through the area three times today to look for signs of advance preparations; we saw one trailer being towed from the west side of WSHC by a pickup truck, and noticed green tags along with orange tags on the vehicles, all titled FINAL NOTICE. And early this evening, we received this from Seattle Public Utilities spokesperson Sabrina Register, from whom we had requested details of the plan:

On June 13, parking enforcement officers visited SW Andover St between 26th Ave SW and 28th Ave SW to provide 72-hour notification to RV and vehicle occupants of the exact area that needed to be free of vehicles so Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) crews could perform an RV Remediation to thoroughly clean the area and dispose of trash and debris on June 16. At the time of the notification, there were 15 RVs, 11 vehicles and one utility trailer.

Additionally, to address a nearby sidewalk obstruction due to an encampment, the City posted a notice on June 14 that all personal items must be removed from the encampment by June 16.

For almost a month, the HOPE Team, within the Human Services Department that coordinates homelessness outreach and referrals to shelter, in coordination with the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA) and outreach providers, including REACH, LEAD, Urban League, Catholic Community Services’ SCOPE Team, St. Vincent de Paul’s RV Project, and the Scofflaw Mitigation Team, have been intensifying outreach to this area to connect those residing onsite in vehicles and in the encampment with vehicle maintenance support and offers of shelter and services.

As of June 15, these outreach efforts have resulted in at least nine referrals to 24/7 enhanced shelter spaces or tiny houses. For additional details on these coordinated outreach efforts, please reach out to KCRHA, who also recently awarded a contract to the Low-Income Housing Institute (LIHI) to develop a safe lot program.

With a focus on addressing public health and safety, SPU performs multiple RV Remediations monthly in different areas of the City. Staff do site assessments where there are five or more RVs in one location. The assessments help the City determine which areas should be prioritized for cleanup.

At least three days prior to the remediation, temporary “no parking” signs are placed at the location, letting the public know about parking restrictions for a particular time period. SDOT staff follow up with direct outreach to RV occupants starting 72 hours prior to a remediation.

If a car is towed from a public street, instructions to locate the vehicle and documents required to release the vehicle are available online. The first step to find and reclaim a vehicle is to call Lincoln Towing at 206-364-2000 or search for the vehicle on Lincoln Towing’s www.SeattleImpound.com website. More information on 72-hour parking enforcement can be found here: City of Seattle 72-Hour On-Street Parking Ordinance – Transportation | seattle.gov.

Any personal items remaining on June 16, will be stored per City policy. People can retrieve their items by calling 206-459-9949, and we will work with individuals to make arrangements for delivery.

The count of 15 RVs matches what we observed this afternoon. Meantime, we had also asked City Councilmember Lisa Herbold and her staff on Friday for any details of the plan, as she had previously mentioned she planned to meet with the mayor’s office. She sent us this reply today:

I have been in regular contact with both the HOPE Team at the City’s Human Services Department, and Marc Dones, ED of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, as well as communicating with housed neighbors reaching out to my office. HSD and KCRHA met with Nucor and the Alki Beach Academy last week, I was in on that meeting and I have been advocating that we address – before enforcement of the parking prohibition scheduled this week – the urgent needs and requests of the people living in RVs and tents in the area, including a dumpster to help with trash as well rats, repairs for the vehicles, and facilitating the opportunity to visit Camp Second Chance, where 20 new tiny houses will soon be available.

Camp Second Chance is West Seattle’s only city-supported tiny-house encampment, on Myers Way in southeasternmost West Seattle.

(WSB photo from last Friday)

As we’ve been reporting, the city has promised another “remediation” this month at the six-plus-years-old RV encampment on SW Andover between 26th and 28th SW. On Friday, we reported that the “no parking” signs had gone up for this week. So far, the city hasn’t given us specifics about what exactly will happen. However, one of the businesses in the area, the West Seattle Health Club, has just told its members via email and social media that “all” vehicles “will be forced to move or be towed” Thursday, and that eco-blocks will be placed to prevent future parking. From the WSHC’s announcement:

Many of you have shared your concerns regarding the encampment on Andover Street requesting an update of the status. Over the past several weeks, myself, our neighboring businesses, city councilmen and several outreach programs have been working with the Mayor’s office to get updates and a resolution to this ongoing issue in our community. During this time, the residents of the encampment have been offered alternative living arrangements as well as new batteries and tires for the vehicles that are no longer running.

This Thursday (6/16) beginning at 9 am, the areas between 26th Ave & Andover Street and 28th Ave & SW Yancy St will be declared a work zone. All vehicles parked along the street will be forced to move or towed.

Today, the Seattle Police Department were out giving notice to the residents of the encampment that they are required to move within 48 hours, or their vehicles will be towed on 6/16/22. Some of the residents were agitated after receiving the notification on their residences and/or vehicles. We strongly recommend that you avoid any interactions with them for your safety.

The club will remain open during this time, however, the entrance to the club from Andover street will not be accessible beginning at 9 am. Please use the entrance from Yancy Street to access the club’s parking lot. We anticipate the area along Andover street to be busy with SPD, outreach programs and media.

According to the Mayor’s Office, the goal is to have the entire area completely cleaned up by the end of the day on Thursday, 6/16. To avoid the return of the encampment, the West Seattle Health Club is partnering with our neighboring businesses to place cement eco-blocks along the surrounding area. The City Council has also proposed to turn the area into a bike lane for the neighborhood.

We went through the area twice this morning, and noted orange tags on most of the 15 RVs/trailers parked there (that count doesn’t include other vehicles or tents that also line the north side of Andover). If this encampment really is cleared, it would be the second major sweep in West Seattle in less than two weeks, after Rotary Viewpoint Park/West Seattle Stadium last week.

6:20 PM: 16th SW was already blocked on the south side of Roxbury for the White Center Pride Street Festival, and now an emergency response is blocking the north side. So avoid the area. We are here trying to find out more.

6:31 PM: We are told a driver hit a pedestrian, who was taken to the hospital. The scene cleared quickly and all responders are gone now.

10:15 PM: SFD says the victim was a 32-year-old man, in stable condition when taken to the hospital.

“No Parking” signs are up at our area’s longest-running RV encampment site, SW Andover between 26th and 28th. The signs are marked for June 14-17 – next Tuesday through Friday – which fits the range previously announced for the next planned “remediation.” What remains to be seen is whether the “No Parking” order will be enforced this time; signs have gone up for the last two cleanups, in December and April, but the RVs didn’t move (aside from one photographed by a reader in December, being taken away on a flatbed). City Councilmember Lisa Herbold had said she planned a meeting with the mayor’s office “to discuss planned enforcement of the 72-hour parking rule at this location.” We have inquiries out for more details on next week’s plan.

Susanna found that kids’ bicycle abandoned in the 9000 block of 14th Avenue SW, and is holding onto it in hopes of finding its owner. If you know whose bike it is, email us at westseattleblog@gmail.com and we’ll connect you.

One week after word that another “remediation” is planned for the Andover RV encampment, it’s getting more advance attention.

West Seattle/South Park Councilmember Lisa Herbold and citywide Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda – a North Delridge resident – visited the encampment today with other officials, including King County Regional Homelessness Authority CEO Marc Dones, and local volunteers. We learned this when Herbold mentioned it to her colleagues during the council’s weekly Monday afternoon “briefing” meeting.

Herbold said she also has a meeting ahead with the mayor’s office about what the encampment residents need as the city gets ready to enforce the 72-hour parking rule. After the council meeting, we asked her via email for more on what the encampment visit was about. Her reply:

I organized a visit to the Andover site for the Regional Homelessness Authority director Marc Dones and some of their staff, along with REACH outreach workers and St. Vincent De Paul outreach workers who regularly serve the residents, as well as members of West Seattle Mutual Aid (neighbors in the area who volunteer their time to help the residents). Councilmember Mosqueda also joined us. A resident in one of the RVs has been in touch with my office and I also have regular contact with the outreach workers who have been working with the residents there already for several months if not longer. I wanted the KCRHA to hear directly from the people living in their RVs at Andover as they consider how to develop the RV Safe Lot program. I also want to be able to share some of what I could learn from both outreach workers and RV residents when I and CEO Dones meet with the Mayor’s Office again this week to discuss planned enforcement of the 72-hour parking rule at this location.

Residents need free or low-cost repairs for vehicles that are inoperable, dumpsters, as well as case management to help residents with stolen IDs and accessing services.

The Regional Homelessness Authority is now the agency responsible for addressing homelessness, rather than a patchwork of city and county departments, though government entities provide funding.

The upcoming remediation was mentioned by Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Martin Rivera during his guest appearance at last Thursday’s Alki Community Council meeting. When the Andover encampment came up, he assured attendees, “They’re going to start moving those RVs out of there.” He later broadened his comments to other (albeit unspecified) encampments in the area, saying that “our whole purpose lately has been to get those encampments moved, and four or five of them are going to be acted on.” We noticed this afternoon that some of the RVs on Harbor Avenue have been orange-tagged; we had heard a parking-enforcement officer radio in a few days ago about being out on that detail. The RVs there come and go more often than the ones on Andover, where there’s been a steady presence going back six-plus years.

P.S. This is likely to be one of many topics Mayor Bruce Harrell is asked about during his virtual visit to the District 1 Community Network‘s June meeting, 7 pm Wednesday, June 1st. (Watch our calendar for the link.)

(WSB photo)

10:35 AM: The no-parking signs have just gone up for another “remediation” planned at the long-running RV encampment along SW Andover between 26th and 28th SW, four months after the last one. This was foreshadowed by a trash/debris pickup back on Monday; after that, we asked Seattle Public Utilities spokesperson Sabrina Register about what’s ahead. Her response via email:

With a focus on addressing public health and safety, Seattle Public Utilities performs multiple RV Remediations monthly in different areas of the City. We do site assessments where there are five or more RVs in one location to determine which areas should be prioritized for cleanup. The remediation schedule is subject to change depending on factors like working conditions, staff schedules and safety concerns, and therefore is not posted publicly.

The SW Andover location you mentioned is scheduled for remediation in the coming days. At least three days prior to the remediation, no park signs are placed at the location, letting the public know about parking restrictions for a particular time period. Staff follow up with direct outreach to RV occupants starting 72 hours prior to a remediation.

Separate from an RV Remediation, SPU performed a clean (Monday) in this location to mitigate ongoing trash and debris in the right-of-way.

Since then, we’ve looked daily for the no-parking signs, and just spotted them this morning; the dates on them are April 10th-14th (Sunday-Thursday). Parking enforcement is now part of SDOT, so we are checking with that department to see if enforcement policies have changed since the last “remediation,” which included removal of only one vehicle that we’re aware of. The number of RVs there has remained steady in the ensuing months – usually ~14.

3:37 PM: Here’s how SDOT responded to our aforementioned inquiry: “SDOT parking enforcement is continuing to focus on clearing abandoned and unoccupied vehicles, and at this time is not impounding vehicles which are occupied by people refusing to relocate. … People living in vehicles often voluntarily move their vehicles before or during the clean-up event. SDOT may assist with parking enforcement of unoccupied and abandoned vehicles, if there are any present at the site of the clean-up effort.”