Olympia City Council expands pedestrian interference ordinance boundaries to address the blocking of sidewalks near homeless shelters

On its first reading, the Olympia City Council approved expanding the boundaries of the city's pedestrian interference ordinance further east to allow the Olympia Police Department (OPD) to respond to complaints about pedestrian interference around local homeless shelters.

At Tuesday's city council meeting, City Assistant Manager Rich Hoey explained that OMC 9.16.180 deals with obstructing pedestrian or vehicular traffic. It prohibits a person from sitting or lying on a sidewalk, street, or alley between 7 am and midnight, but sleeping on a sidewalk between midnight and 7 am is allowed.

Previously, the ordinance only applied within the downtown commercial zone. However, complaints from residents and businesses prompted the city to consider expanding the boundary eastward.

According to Hoey, the current boundary extends along Plum Street.

The city staff proposed an additional area to extend the boundaries to the east side of the street and southward to encompass the Tiny Home Village, known as Quince Street Village.

Hoey described the zone that would be expanded as it has some emergency shelter facilities on the eastern edge of downtown:

• Quince Street Village – with a 100-unit tiny home village
• Rosie's Place Youth Shelter
• Salvation Army
• Pear Blossom Place Family Shelter

"It is important to note that the city highly supports these facilities. They provide critical services to those vulnerable people in our community," Hoey said.

The city official explained that the ordinance amendment addresses the challenges surrounding the facilities and the impacts on surrounding properties. He told the councilmembers that the city received several complaints from nearby residents, property owners, and businesses about some of the challenges related to pedestrian interference and the blocking of sidewalks around these areas.

According to Hoey, the proposed amendment aims to strike "an effective balance between compassion and accountability," as the city's One Community plan calls for. The change also seeks to build support for future shelters. "We will need additional shelter facilities and finding new locations within our community."

Olympia Police Department's role

OPD Deputy Chief Shelby Parker said they are taking a compassion and accountability approach in dealing with homelessness with its Walking Crisis Response Unit (CRU).

In 2019 and 2020, Parker said the OPD focused more on outreach through its CRU and Familiar Faces program. Walking CRU provided many warnings but less traditional enforcement. However, downtown businesses reported issues with the growing number of tents in the area during business hours.

In 2021, the Walking CRU began informing people with tents in the downtown commercial zone after 7 am that they could be cited for pedestrian interference. Parker said this was to provide more accountability while still connecting people to resources.

Since early 2022, the deputy chief claimed, the Walking CRU has regularly enforced the ordinance while continuing outreach efforts. Officers have issued hundreds of warnings along with CRU referrals. She said increased enforcement intends to encourage compliance through the community court system, where cases are resolved with services rather than fines.