The City Council president is calling for creation of a “tent city” after community outcry after the city voted to place basalt boulders under a highway overpass to deter the homeless.
SPOKANE — Following blowback after the city voted to place basalt boulders under a freeway overpass to deter homeless people from camping there, a Spokane city leader is calling for creating a “tent city” instead.
The Spokesman-Review reported Thursday that Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart’s tent city idea came after he heard from “hundreds” of people opposing the boulder plan for under Interstate 90, with many calling it inhumane.
Struckart pushed for the boulder plan and sped it through the council’s decision-making process. He then posted an apology on his Facebook pages.
Johnathan Mallahan, Spokane’s Community and Neighborhood Services Division director, says city law allows for temporary encampments.
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Such a camp would need a sponsor agency, a site plan, sanitary facilities and rules of conduct.
The city has organized a forum on homelessness for Sept. 25 at Spokane City Hall.