Moving from Issaquah as promised July 11, the homeless encampment known as Tent City 4 has landed in Snoqualmie near Echo Lake and Interstate 90.
“Everything is going well so far,” camp director/spokesman Sam Roberson said.
He added the spot is a little far off the beaten path, but said the camp’s 34 residents are coping with the situation.
As was the case in Issaquah, the Snoqualmie location where Tent City 4 landed is owned by King County. Roberson said he is trying to arrange an agreement that will have Tent City 4 in Snoqualmie until Nov. 7.
“They are working with us,” Roberson said of county leadership. “We have no complaints.”
King County officials did not suggest the Snoqualmie location for Tent City 4, said Jason Argo, communications officer for the county’s department of executive services.
“We have multiple departments working together with faith-based organizations on the Eastside to find an alternative location for Tent City 4 residents,” Argo said in an email.
Tent City 4 set up camp in Issaquah’s High Point area, just off Interstate 90 Exit 20, in March. At the time, it did not have a permit to be there and it was not even clear who owned the property.
The site consists of a permanently closed road, blocked by an iron gate. Because the road was controlled by King County, Roberson said Tent City 4 sent the office of County Executive Dow Constantine a $500 check for rent. Roberson said that check was cashed, but he has had no direct contact with county officials regarding the Issaquah site. Tent City 4 already has sent the county a check for rent on the Snoqualmie location, Roberson said.
The Issaquah site presented Tent City 4 with several problems, including a lack of electricity and no potable water. Roberson said the Snoqualmie location poses the same issues.
“But we haul in water and we have a generator,” he said.
Residents previously said while the generator certainly helps, it cannot supply enough juice to power all of Tent City 4’s needs.
“We just can’t do what we need to do with a generator,” Tent City resident Anna Low said.
Tent City 4 amenities include a washer and dryer, refrigerator, portable shower and other equipment.
If residents could have their way, Tent City 4 would set up camp at a church or similar site. In the past, Roberson said the advantages go beyond power and water, that religious locations also aid with safety issues. He said Tent City 4 is usually much bigger when camped at a religious site.
For the future, Roberson said he is in talks with a Kirkland-area church, which could host the camp when it pulls up stakes from Snoqualmie in November. In finding locations, Tent City 4 has been hampered by rules passed in many local communities that limit the number of times homeless camps can stay in any one municipality in the course of a year.
“Nothing is definite,” Roberson said of the Kirkland church, which he declined to identify. “But we are working on it.”