Neighbors and advocates for the unhoused have reached out to TCA about the camping at 2318 NE 125th St, the site of the Lake City Floodplain Park currently under development. In response, we would like to make clear that our position is to support city and county efforts to keep Thornton Creek parks, natural areas and green spaces free from unsanctioned camping and other destructive nuisance behaviors.

The primary reason we don’t support unsanctioned camping in our watershed is water contamination. For several years now, TCA has supported a community science program to test Thornton Creek water samples for contaminants. Based on our own experiences, the documentation of other encampment locations along waters courses in Seattle and the scientific literature concerning other locations, it is our steadfast belief that encampments create human fecal disposal within the riparian area or directly into the creek.

In the case of the recently purchased site of the Lake City Floodplain Park, the condemned structures on the property accessed by campers have no sanitary facilities. From what we have seen and from what we can surmise, the camping at the property has created hazardous waste that poses a risk to Thornton Creek water quality, as well as to public health. This is especially true of this particular site, as it lies just a few miles upstream from where Thornton Creek empties into Lake Washington, in a natural area just south of Matthews Beach, a popular swimming destination.

In the very near term, we advocate for the removal of the Lake City Floodplain Park’s condemned structures as soon as possible in order to minimize the potential for the site being used for an encampment again. We ask that SPU and Seattle Parks make this removal a priority to ensure that the park development can go forward as planned and with the neighborhood goodwill it deserves. We will be following up on this issue. Stay tuned.

For more information about Lake City Floodplain Park, visit: https://www.lakecityfloodplainpark.com/