After last year’s uproar over proposed encampment-removal rules that some interpreted as allowing camping in parks and on sidewalks, a new set of rules was promised. Today, the proposal has gone public, and a comment period is open. It’s in four documents, all here as PDFs. The main ones you’ll want to review are these two – first, the proposed removal rules:

Second, these are the proposed Multi-Departmental Administrative Rules:

Click the plus sign to expand the “for public comment: encampment rules” section of this page for commenting info.

It’s been three and a half months since the set of rules that the City Council was working on was basically shelved. The cover page for what’s now on the city website includes this summary:

Compared to the existing rules, the new rules: *Identify specific criteria for prioritizing the removal of encampments. *Require the offer of a shelter alternative in order to remove many encampments. *Require the City to deliver materials it stores from encampments to their owners. *Streamline the process for removing encampments that obstruct the intended use of public facilities like sidewalks and parks.

We’ll be taking a closer look later but are publishing the documents now so you can read for yourself if interested.

SIDE NOTE: While these rules apply to unauthorized camping, we’re taking this opportunity to remind you about tomorrow night’s West Seattle meeting related to the plan to authorize an existing camp on Myers Way. The meeting is at 7 pm Wednesday (February 1st) at the Joint Training Facility (9401 Myers Way S.)