(The Center Square) – Spokane County now has the authority to recover abatement costs from private property owners if the owners permit encampments that create public health and safety concerns on the estate.
The county prosecutor’s office proposed the idea in April after it slipped through the cracks last winter, when the Board of County Commissioners overhauled its nuisance code for unincorporated properties.
Camping on public property is already largely prohibited, but the board didn’t designate the activity as a nuisance on private property until Tuesday, when it passed the prosecutor’s office proposal.
It allows the county to clean and remove encampments at the expense of the property owner, rather than county taxpayers.
“This has been a topic of concern for, I know, Commissioners [Mary] Brooks, [Josh] Kerns and myself, for many years,” Commissioner Al French, elected to the board in 2010, said before voting on Tuesday.
“We’ve dealt with nuisance activities … that we didn’t have the tools necessary to deal with, and with this ordinance, that gives us the tools to be able to better control those,” French said, offering support.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Nathan Gwinn briefed the board on the proposal ahead of Tuesday’s vote.
He said the county’s approach is now closely aligned with Spokane Valley’s, where city officials approved a measure last year that designated camping on private property as a nuisance if it poses a safety risk.
The board’s approval follows the Spokane City Council’s passage of a new camping ban last fall, which critics have said is driving homeless individuals to move into the county’s more rural areas.
Tuesday’s agenda materials did not list a fiscal impact for the county, and Gwinn didn’t respond to The Center Square’s voicemail asking about taxpayer savings from camping abatement before publishing.
It’s not immediately clear from public budget materials how much the county spends on addressing camping on private property, since the process and cost recovery are handled by a few departments.
The county’s ordinance is framed as a response to encampments on private property, where individuals leave human waste, garbage and drug paraphernalia or otherwise pose a problem or danger to others.
“The Board finds that regulation of camping on private property is necessary to protect the [general] public comfort, repose, health, safety, and welfare,” according to the proposal approved on Tuesday.
According to the proposal, it applies to situations where folks are camping on private property without a habitable residence for more than 14 days a year when the owner is not present; it also applies to camping on private property with a habitable residence if the owner is gone, hasn’t given permission, and the activity is taking up multiple off-street parking spaces and blocking access for first responders.
The city of Spokane also has rules that regulate camping on private property if it lasts over two weeks.
The county’s version does not apply to camping on legally operated RV parks and campgrounds, or to religious organizations hosting homeless individuals on their properties in accordance with state laws.
If the county identifies an encampment on private property that could be classified as a nuisance, the relevant officials must provide a 48-hour notice so the owner can address the issue before the county steps in.
If the county abates the property, it can charge the owner responsible with $250 daily fines.
The property owner would also be responsible for any costs associated with the abatement, such as removing junk vehicles, clearing waste and other things necessary to address the issue.
According to the county code, “All such costs and expenses shall constitute a lien against the affected property.”
“The county is not trying to punish those who engage in camping on private property in a manner that doesn’t have an effect on the health, safety, welfare, comfort or quiet enjoyment of others,” Gwinn said Tuesday before the board’s vote.
