1,000+ reports a year — Sweeps in Cal Anderson Park are rare but neighborhood encampment complaints tell a different story

Facing escalating neighborhood friction around Capitol Hill’s central park, the Greater Seattle Business Association has pushed back against City Hall, calling for a halt to homeless encampment removals in Cal Anderson.

The pushback comes as Mayor Katie Wilson says she is shifting the city’s encampment strategy to prioritize clearance of public spaces like sidewalks and parks while pairing the efforts with increased services and shelter.

In a statement addressed to the mayor, the LGBTQ+ and allied business advocacy group that bills itself as Capitol HIll’s chamber of commerce challenged the assertion that restaurant, shop, and property owners have asked for stepped-up enforcement.

“We request that Mayor Wilson immediately order a pause on all sweeps of Cal Anderson Park until this issue is meaningfully resolved,” the letter states, signed by GSBA Capitol Hill Neighborhood Safety Manager Jen Carl and Policy and Advocacy Director Gabriel Neuman.

The leadership pushed back directly against city outreach teams:

It has also come to our attention that the Unified Care Team has been referencing the business community to justify harmful encampment removals that do not adhere to the policies and laws set forth by the city. This statement is both inappropriate and inaccurate. While some individuals may support these initiatives, our overall Capitol Hill community, including the vast majority of our business owners, firmly oppose such punitive and unnecessary measures.

The GSBA expressed alarm over “harassment and intimidation of our unhoused trans and LGBTQ+ siblings” by the Unified Care Team and Seattle Police Department officers, urging an independent review alongside expanded harm-reduction investments like handwashing stations, sharps containers, and funding for mutual aid and community groups including Stone Soup Crew, MANTIS, and the Cal Anderson Park Alliance.

Earlier this year, CHS reported on CAPA calling on the city to increase maintenance and outreach resources at the park citing public safety concerns.

GSBA’s new demand for an immediate pause in sweeps comes as city records shows relatively rare full clearance activity in the park.

According to “Site Journal” records published by the Seattle Human Services Department, the city has logged only three formal encampment clearances for Cal Anderson in all of 2026:

• January 9, 2026 (Q1): An obstruction and hazard removal with personal property storage provided.
• April 16, 2026 (Q2): An obstruction removal with property storage.
• October 19, 2026 (Q4): An obstruction clearance conducted mid-October.

By comparison, the city logged two site journals for the park in 2025 (August and December) and only one in 2023, with none archived under Cal Anderson in the portal between 2017 and 2022 or throughout 2024.

While daily field contacts, bag-and-tag garbage runs, and park ranger moves can occur without triggering a formal HSD site journal, full-scale removal operations in Cal Anderson have officially averaged just one every few months.

Though clearance logs show infrequent full sweeps, citizen reports from the ground tell a different story.

Data from the city’s Find It Fix It customer service portal tracking reported unauthorized encampments reveals an aggressive rebound in complaints surrounding the park in 2026:

• The 2025 Peak and Winter Lull: In 2025, reports in the immediate Cal Anderson footprint (bounded by E Pine St, E Denny Way, Nagle Pl, and 11th Ave) surged to an all-time high of 1,150 reports, peaking in July 2025 with 340 submissions. Following city clearance actions late that summer and in December, report volume collapsed by over 90%, dropping to just 30 reports in Q4 2025 and 33 reports in Q1 2026 (averaging fewer than a dozen a month).
• The 2026 Escalation: Complaints began multiplying again in late spring. Quarterly volume climbed from 33 in Q1 to 249 in Q2 and 362 in Q3.
• October Spike: By October 2026, monthly reports reached 202—the highest single-month count since the July 2025 peak. Through November 10, the perimeter has logged 901 reports in 2026, pacing toward another 1,000-report year.

The records show where community tension concentrates. Rather than spreading across the park’s interior lawns, reports are pinned to perimeter sidewalks and transit borders:

• South Perimeter (E Pine St): The 1000 and 1001 blocks of E Pine St account for over 360 cumulative reports.
• East Flank (11th Ave): Dense clusters along the 1600, 1700, and 1800 blocks of 11th Ave generate the highest combined volume, led by the 1800 block (316 reports) and the 1633 block (197 reports).
• West Flank (Nagle Pl): 1700 Nagle Pl (332 reports) and 1819 Nagle Pl (135 reports), bordering the light rail station and playfield.
• Living Conditions: Over 85% of logged surveys specify tents, tarps, or temporary sidewalk structures. Reports indicating vehicular living or RVs account for under 4% in the immediate blocks.

Meanwhile, Seattle City Hall is setting the spending plan for 2027 including how the city will step up its own efforts as the King County Regional Homelessness Authority is ramped down.

A key debate focuses on the the Unified Care Team and Wilson’s plan which preserves core funding for rapid encampment and obstruction removals versus City Council efforts to impose stricter oversight and push resources toward harm reduction.  Facing a significant deficit balanced in part by tapping JumpStart payroll expense tax reserves, council members and community stakeholders are pushing budget provisos that would condition the team’s funding on reporting regarding shelter referral outcomes, property storage compliance, and law enforcement costs.

Council proposals could open spending on new handwashing stations and public toilets and closer operational alignment with the CARE department’s unarmed alternative crisis response teams.

The Wilson administration is slowing its homelessness and shelter goals as part of spending shifts to address a projected $175 million budget deficit. While Wilson’s core goals remain in place including the establishment of approximately 1,000 emergency shelter spaces paired with wraparound services, budget realities will mean a slower approach.

Wilson also vetoed a plan to create a RV parking permit system tied to shelter and services, saying it would not be a cost-effective program.

Earlier this year, the administration framed the delivery of 1,000 shelter units as a single-year objective for 2026. The administration has now extended that goal through the end of 2027, scheduling 960 total beds to serve an estimated 1,750 people annually across facilities established in 2026 and eight sites slated for 2027.

According to a 2026 count across King County, the number of unsheltered individuals jumped from around 9,800 in 2024 to 11,829 in 2026, a 21% increase in people living on the streets, in vehicles, or in parks.

In the meantime, neighbors and passersby are logging nearly three encampment reports a day this year in Cal Anderson Park.