City of Seattle begins clearing Woodland Park homeless encampment

Seattle Parks and Recreation workers arrived Tuesday morning to begin removing a homeless tent and RV camp in Woodland Park. The mayor’s office says that in recent months outreach workers have referred some people to temporary shelter, but others have packed up their belongings and moved elsewhere.

City dump trucks towing backhoe loaders rumbled into the encampment at Woodland Park shortly after 7 a.m. on Tuesday. More than 50 tents, makeshift shelters, and RVs have been scattered around the park for months. Some people on Tuesday morning said they lived in the park for more than a year.

Starshaw Dawn Burnam said she and her partner had their RV parked at Woodland for the past two months. They hung a tarp from their RV to create a covered hangout area outside.

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“Someone said we have the nice place on the block,” Burnam said. “I’m sad we gotta pack it up.”

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office says outreach workers have visited the encampment regularly since January offering people shelter and medical services. So far, the mayor says, more than 50 people at the park have been referred to a temporary shelter, tiny house, or long term supportive housing.

However, the shelters offered by the city were not a good fit for everyone at the camp and many people chose to pack up their tents and move to a different park. RV owners, like Burnam, did not want to get separated from their mobile homes. On Tuesday Burnam was looking for gas and others were installing car batteries into their RVs to get them running.

At least five Seattle police cars patrolled the camp during the removal and a police van was parked nearby. Officers also lined up to keep mutual aid volunteers from interfering with city crews.

Tuesday was the first day of the camp clearing. Fliers in the park posted by the city say people have until Thursday, May 12 to remove all of their belongings or risk having them thrown away. The mayor’s office says following the removal, parts of the park will remain closed while Parks and Rec cleans and does repairs.