The Tukwila City Council voted 4–3 Monday night, July 20 to approve a new camping restriction ordinance for city property, following hours of emotional public comment and council debate over public safety, homelessness, parks and the limits of police authority.

The ordinance establishes a new Chapter 8.41 of the Tukwila Municipal Code, titled camping regulations. The measure was described during the meeting as a tool that would allow police to remove people from encampments on public property when they refuse to leave after being offered services.

Interim police Chief Eric Lund told the council the ordinance was not intended to solve homelessness.

“This isn’t a solution to homelessness,” Lund said. “It never was proposed to be a solution to homelessness.”

Lund said officers need a criminal violation in place before they can use force under Washington law to move someone from an encampment on public property.

“So to all that to say, we need a crime to be able to move somebody out of an encampment,” Lund said. “If we don’t have that, we can’t physically remove somebody. Then the person stays.”

The council’s vote came after testimony from residents, housing providers and advocates, some urging the city to protect parks and public spaces, and others warning that the ordinance would criminalize people who have nowhere else to sleep.

The final roll call showed Councilmembers Kruller, Martinez and Ho, along with Council President Papyan, voting “yes.” Councilmembers Seal, Hedrick and Camacho voted “no.”

Supporters framed the measure as a last resort for cases where people refuse services and refuse to leave public property. Opponents said the city already has tools to address trespassing, park rules, public drug use, theft and other crimes, and argued the ordinance would create a misdemeanor for sleeping outside.

Councilmember Seal said she supports safe parks and public spaces, but could not support making camping a crime.

“The question before us is not whether or not we should address encampments,” Seal said. “It’s whether or not making camping a misdemeanor and therefore a crime.”

Seal also noted that neighboring cities including Kent, Burien and Auburn have similar ordinances, but questioned whether Tukwila needed to create a new criminal offense.

“If cities can manage these situations without criminal prosecution, why should Tukwila create a misdemeanor offense that we hope to never use?” Seal said. “Until I can answer that question, I can’t support making homelessness a misdemeanor.”

Councilmember Camacho also questioned whether the city should work more with regional service providers before moving forward.

“I think we can do a lot with our community partners,” Camacho said.

Councilmember Ho said the issue was difficult, but she supported the ordinance as part of public safety and said the city should continue pushing for housing and services.

“I also don’t believe that to be homeless is a crime,” Ho said. “However, in order for us to move the needle, sometimes we do have to make sacrifices and there are risks that we just have to take.”

Councilmember Martinez said he lives next to a park and has heard from seniors who want to feel safe using public spaces.

“We have to address the issue that some of these people will not choose the services if asked,” Martinez said.

Public comment was sharply divided.

Marta Kadan, community engagement manager at the Low Income Housing Institute, urged the council not to pass the ordinance, saying the city should focus on human services until more shelter is available in King County.

“Being outside in a tent in this capacity is not camping,” Kadan said. “It is doing what you can to keep yourself safe. It’s survival mode when you have nowhere else to go.”

Cara Williams, also with the Low Income Housing Institute, said the ordinance would punish people who are unhoused.

“There is no question this ordinance makes homelessness a crime,” Williams said. “Our clients need shelter and services, not fines or jail time.”

Josh Castle, a Cascade View neighborhood resident, said the ordinance would punish people with “as many as 90 days in jail, a $1,000 fine and a criminal record” for sleeping when no shelter bed or tiny house is available.

“People don’t choose to be homeless,” Castle said. “I assure you, they are not camping.”

Others spoke in favor of the measure, saying public spaces need to be usable and safe.

Andrea Suarez, founder of We Heart Seattle, urged the council to pass the ban, citing trash, needles and environmental damage in parks, green belts and waterways.

“We need to make our parks equitable and safe for all,” Suarez said. “And I ask you to pass the camping ban tonight.”

Barb Ivanov, who said she has lived in Tukwila for 52 years, said she supported giving officers another tool to address unsafe encampments.

“I do not want to see dangerous encampments in public areas,” Ivanov said. “I think that is fair and I think that is a right of the general citizen, the resident who lives here.”

The ordinance passed after the council first voted to read it by title only. The title read into the record described it as an ordinance “relating to camping on city property” and establishing TMC Chapter 8.41, camping regulations.

Video

Below is full, raw video of this council meeting: