Groups of residents and protesters awaited a Friday night tour of Seven Hills planned with city officials. Public safety director Andrew Myerberg met privately with a smaller group, instead.
The notices went up Tuesday at the park. Thanks to a neighbor for the picture.
The city has posted notice that Capitol Hill’s Seven Hills Park will be cleared of tents and belongings Thursday as Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office says it is responding to concerns following months of complaints from neighbors about tents and disorder in the 16th Ave at E Howell park.
Officials say they requested “that outreach efforts at Seven Hills Park intensify” in advance of the Thursday sweep.
“At the beginning of this week, city staff observed 12 tents, and outreach has identified eight individuals residing at this location long-term,” a Seattle Parks spokesperson said.
Officials say the effort had resulted in two referrals to “24/7 enhanced shelter” — “outreach is ongoing and those remaining onsite will all receive offers of shelter prior to an encampment removal,” the spokesperson said.
UPDATE 2/17/2022 9:30 AM: The clearance is underway:
Seven Hills Park at 16th and Howell on Capitol Hill being swept. pic.twitter.com/BIzodJVYxv
— Alex Garland (@AGarlandPhoto) February 17, 2022
The sweep follows months of complaints from residents in nearby buildings about camping in the park that began at the height of the pandemic with the number of tents ebbing and flowing along with clearances at other nearby parks spaces including Cal Anderson, Williams Place, and Miller Playfield.
People have been living in the park for months and residents in nearby buildings including the adjacent The Sanctuary townhome building, an overhauled, 1906-built church turned into a condo development in the 2000s, have complained to City Hall about the number of tents increasing following last summer as other encampment areas in the city were cleared.
“What initiated as an act of compassion has now turned into a public health concern for those who live near the park – as well as for all who are living in the park,” a resident wrote to then Mayor Jenny Durkan in an email sent in late September 2021. “As a local resident with property adjacent to this beloved park, we fear that there is increasing risk associated with the growing encampment in this park – we no longer feel safe. We know how bad things can get if there is no intervention and are keenly aware it took someone getting killed at Cal Anderson Park (just four blocks away) before the City of Seattle intervened.”
The just before Christmas 2020 reopening of Cal Anderson after a Seattle Police and Seattle Parks sweep of encampments and activists that included 24 arrests came two months after the murder of Lisa Vach in a domestic violence murder-suicide at the park.
“During the past three weeks we have seen the total number of tents increase from 1 to 14. The situation is neither safe nor sanitary,” the September letter continued. “In addition to the garbage strewn throughout this small park, we have personally witnessed the destruction of public property, limbs ripped from trees, needle use out in the open, burning toxic materials, urinating in public, defecating in the ally and the community garden, and screaming and yelling at all hours of the night. Most importantly, a neighbor of the park was physically assaulted and harmed while walking through the park.”
“Please know that before we can remove an encampment, there must be offers of shelter to all those residing within in an encampment,” the city responded a week later:
This site is a priority for removal and for shelter offering, but this takes time. Closing the park and excluding all from the park would not allow outreach providers the time needed to make connections to services and shelter prior to a removal, and would likely cause individuals to relocate within the neighborhood.
“Your concern regarding encampments at Seven Hills Park has been shared with a multi-departmental team that tracks and engages encampments,” the city’s response read.
At Seven Hills, escalating concern and incidents including an October fire and a November stabbing added to the calls for more to be done despite pandemic restrictions.
Thursday’s sweep now comes after Seven Hills has been thrust into the spotlight as the new Harrell administration begins its promised new approaches to homelessness in the city. CHS reported on the plans for a “scheduled removal” and involvement from Harrell’s newly appointed public safety director Andrew Myerberg, the former head of the city’s Office of Police Accountability.
The planned clearance comes amid an escalation in City Hall responses to public safety concerns, worries about homelessness, and media coverage. Earlier this month, Harrell pledged a crackdown on Seattle crime in a mix of “hot spot” policing, more arrests, and more efforts to address core problems of poverty, addiction, and mental illness.
Harrell has also promised his administration will do more to address issues of public safety and clearing encampments. During the campaign, his homelessness plan called for more housing and “a capital campaign” supported by charitable giving from the private sector, not new taxes. Harrell said parks and streets should be cleared of encampments with increased outreach effort from workers to provide shelter and services.
The administration, meanwhile, will end years of pandemic restrictions on evictions this month.
Friday night, a crowd of residents and protesters gathered at the park expecting a tour with Myerberg and community representatives. Instead, Myerberg reportedly met in private with a smaller group. The mayor’s office did not respond to inquiries about the meeting and the changed plans around the canceled tour.
This week, notices were posted notifying campers of the impending clean-up.
The city says the HOPE Team, the program within the Human Services Department that coordinates homelessness outreach and referrals to shelter, has been at the park “almost daily since the beginning of last week coordinating outreach” with Catholic Community Services’ SCOPE outreach team “to connect individuals at the site with services and shelter as available.”
Seattle Parks and Recreation staff will store personal items “in accordance with City policy,” the flyers say.
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