‘Buffer zones’: Hollingsworth backs restrictions near parks and schools in Seattle’s plan for larger Tiny House Villages

Seattle City Council president and District 3 representative Joy Hollingsworth is backing a proposal that would restrict a plan for larger Tiny House Villages in the city from being placed near parks and schools, putting the proposed emergency shelters in the same category as pot shops and strip clubs.

“For cannabis stores, it’s 1,000 feet for elementary, high school, middle school. It’s 500 feet for parks,” Hollingsworth said in Wednesday’s special meeting of the council’s land use committee. “So, you know, there are certain things in our city that do have buffers. We call them buffer zones.”

The proposed school, daycare, and park restrictions were part of seven amendments raised by committee members Wednesday as it debated legislation moving through the Seattle City Council that would raise legal limits on residents at “transitional encampments” to 150. The bill would also allow one “interim use” 250-resident village in the city.

CHS reported here on the five prepared in advance of the session that would also add stringent requirements including a joint amendment from Dionne Foster and Debora Juarez would require operators of any of the new, larger villages to develop a public safety plan “with required elements” and authorize a Community Advisory Committee “to advise on public safety plan implementation.”

A separate proposal from Hollingsworth would add a requirement for an operator to enter into a “Good Neighbor Agreement” and “prescribes minimum communication and public safety protocols that must be included in the GNA.”

While the amendments would add time-consuming process to the efforts championed by Mayor Katie Wilson to quickly create new shelter facilities, they also are hoped to help with neighborhood pushback as the sites for new villages are proposed.

On Capitol Hill, CHS reported on plans for a new 32-house tiny village on Belmont Ave that would not be part of the plan for expanded, 100+ resident villages but is still raising questions for its operator. The Low Income Housing Institute says it held a community meeting on the project on April 20th — the same day CHS broke the news on the project — but hasn’t said if it is planning any follow-ups for the village.

The proposed school and parks amendment from Hollingsworth and Juarez might be going too far. Committee member Alexis Mercedes Rinck questioned what areas of the city would be able to host a larger Tiny House Village with such onerous restrictions.

“I read this amendment and I understand where this is coming from, but I just have to say, at face value I’m concerned about the message this amendment is sending,” Rinck said.

Under the Hollingsworth and Juarez proposal, the larger Tiny House Villages would be restricted from being located within 750 feet from schools, childcare centers, and playgrounds within public parks and 500 feet from parks larger than two acres in size. Encampments exclusively serving families with children would be exempt as would any of the new, larger Tiny House Villages serving residents in recovery from substance abuse disorders.

Across Capitol Hill, there are at least 18 to 20 campuses and a dozen or more parks that would be part of planning any of the new large emergency shelter villages.

Another late-arriving amendment Wednesday would mandate the presence of 24-hour private security personnel on-site at the villages.

Wednesday, Hollingsworth said the restrictions are needed as the city looks to regain trust around homelessness issues.

“I took on this sponsoring understanding that we wanted to set up the high acuity shelters that we are siting to be successful because, quite frankly, what we’re dealing with at King County Regional Homeless Authority is a mess, and so as we are taking this on as a city, we have to set new expectations and standards for stuff to be successful where the public can trust us.”

The debate over the bill and the seven amendments now moves back to City Hall before a hoped-for vote to move the legislation out of committee next week.

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