Elizabeth Hale, Alex Hale and Carlo Paz are three unhoused residents of Burien. Together with the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness (SKCCH), they are working with lawyers from Northwest Justice Project (NJP) to sue the city of Burien for enforcing Ordinance 827, which prohibits anyone from living on Burien public property.
The plaintiffs claim the ordinance is unconstitutional under the Washington state constitution and violates the due process rights of homeless individuals living in Burien. The state constitution reads that “no person shall be disturbed in [their] private affairs without authority of law,” and the case argues the ordinance violates other sections of the constitution that specify what counts as cruel punishment.
Ordinance 827, which went into effect Nov. 1, 2023, with full enforcement beginning Dec. 1, prevents any person from dwelling in public spaces like parks, city grounds or sidewalks. The only exceptions are in select areas from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. at designated areas that are “set aside, posted or not explicitly prohibited” by the Burien city manager. People in violation of the ordinance will be charged with a misdemeanor.
The plaintiffs are seeking relief from King County Superior Court, an end to the enforcement of Ordinance 827 and for it to be declared unconstitutional.
The executive director of SKCCH, Alison Eisinger, says the ordinance doesn’t recognize Burien’s insufficient infrastructure when it comes to providing shelter for unhoused people. Only two shelters are available in the city, and both are exclusive to women and children. The city of Burien says it offers services before involving law enforcement, but Eisinger says that’s not enough.
“Offering services is not the same as saying, ‘We have a place for you on this day.’ Offering services could be [saying], ‘Do you need help getting your stuff replaced?’” Eisinger said. “The problem that service providers have is that they don’t have places for people to go. If it were as simple as saying, ‘We’ve got the right kind of shelter or housing, and we have it available for you now,’ we would be having a different conversation.”
Eisinger said the city has barely engaged with SKCCH despite the coalition reaching out multiple times to urge the council not to pass Ordinance 827. Eisinger believes that the city’s recent actions have only added to unhoused people’s struggles to stay connected with their community, loved ones, outreach workers and case managers.
In the lawsuit, NJP argues that the ordinance is vague in its permitting process authorized by Burien’s city manager and fails to issue details about which areas are designated for people experiencing homelessness to live on.
“We’re claiming that the ordinance violates due process and equal protection — there aren’t clear guidelines,” said Fadi Assaf, a lawyer for NJP.
“There is a carve out within the ordinance that allows [people] to live [outside] during [the] nighttime, but only in specific permitted and designated areas. However, the city of Burien has not designated those areas.”
The day enforcement of the ordinance started, Dec. 1, King County Sheriff deputies, contracted by the city of Burien, swept an encampment on Ambaum Boulevard Southwest and threatened to arrest the residents if they were unable to move. The people who had been staying there were forced to leave the area; many of their belongings were removed by the city and never returned to them, according to SKCCH.
The lawsuit argues that the ordinance gives law enforcement officers authority to make assumptions about individuals, giving them free rein to profile people living outside. If an officer perceives someone to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, engaging in aggressive behavior or in violation of shelter rules, the officer has the authority to arrest them without being required to consider other factors like disabilities or mental health.
Sunnydale Village, an encampment established by the Burien Community Support Coalition (BCSC) and hosted at Oasis Church, grew since the passing of the ordinance. BCSC provides basic aid to the homeless community within Burien and established an agreement with the church to host the encampment on its lands from November 2023 to February 2024. Since then, about 100 unhoused individuals moved in and out of the encampment, with 65 residents continuously residing there, according to BCSC vice president Daniel Martin.
“[The] camping ban went into effect on Nov. 1, with hard enforcement as of Dec. 1 — that is what has driven the population of our camp,” Martin said. “A majority of our residents come in as a response to the hard sweeps and in distress because of the wind and rainstorms and the city destroying much of [their] property.”
Cydney Moore, former Burien councilmember and current president of BCSC, said her group has worked closely with outreach organizations, service providers, local food banks, emergency responders and other nonprofit organizations to meet the needs of Sunnydale Village residents. BCSC and community members rallying to support their unhoused neighbors was great to witness, Moore said, but she added that people carry the trauma of having their homes and communities constantly swept and their things destroyed by law enforcement by the city’s order.
“People have been trying to find somewhere safe to go in Burien for a long time, and the city has been chasing them around town. [It] is incredibly stressful to people [who] can’t establish a sense of stability.” Moore said.
Real Change has covered Burien’s previous encampment sweep orders. Before Ordinance 827 passed and the Ambaum encampment was removed, residents of an encampment located by Burien City Hall and the Burien public library were forcibly evicted on March 31, 2023. Then, on May 31, 2023, another encampment located at the corner of Southwest 152nd Street and 6th Avenue Southwest was swept. Afterward, that lot was turned into a dog park by Burien C.A.R.E.S, a nonprofit animal shelter.
We were unable to talk to the plaintiffs directly, in part because they are still seeking a safe space to stay after all of them had to leave Sunnydale Village, due to the encampment’s lease ending on Feb. 5. With Ordinance 827 in full effect, finding this space has been hard to come by for the plantiffs.
Moore said BCSC is actively looking for another roughly 7,000-square-foot location to accommodate all residents of the encampment. According to a post on the B-Town Blog, residents of the former Sunnydale Village have since returned to Burien City Hall. Martin said BCSC has contacted the city directly, as well as outreach workers from Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion and REACH, a services provider associated with Evergreen Treatment Services, for support in creating a plan for individuals who had to move again but hasn’t received any responses.
According to Devin Chicras, Burien’s communications and public engagement manager, Burien is unable to comment on the matter because of the pending lawsuit.
Chicras revealed that city staff are working with King County Regional Homelessness Authority to find an organization to operate a tiny home village planned for the city. In November 2023, the Burien City Council approved a $1 million offer from King County to create a tiny home village. The 4-3 vote came just three hours before the offer, first presented back in June 2023, was set to expire.
However, Eisinger pointed out the power imbalance between a city — which has the authority to completely ban homeless people — and an unhoused community, whose members have to deal with the ramifications of the city’s choices. She believes pressure from housed residents in Burien pushed the city council to take action around addressing homelessness but reiterated that the ordinance itself doesn’t solve homelessness in the city of Burien.
“It should be overturned, and it’s not because Burien is a bad city. It’s because bad laws and bad policies do not serve the residents of Burien or any other jurisdiction that uses this cruel and impossible approach to try to make people go away,” Eisinger said. “They should use all their resources, [and] that’s why our coalition exists: to focus on getting folks the housing and support they need so that they’re not living outside.”
King County Regional Homelessness Authority reported that in order to adequately respond to the housing crisis, the county needs to create 18,200 additional temporary housing units. Eisinger emphasized that shelters and other survival services must be provided respectfully and that housing is a long-term investment for any community, including Burien.
The case is set to go to trial in January 2025, according to Assaf.
Marian Mohamed is the associate editor of Real Change. She oversees our weekly features. Contact her at [email protected].
Read more of the Feb. 14–20, 2024 issue.