Bellingham to begin clearing controversial encampment after years of complaints
by Karina Vargas
Updated Sun, November 17th 2024 at 6:19 PM
BELLINGHAM, Wash, — The city of Bellingham is set to start cleanup efforts at a large encampment along East Stuart Road next week, following years of complaints from residents about violence and crime.
Kelly Todd, who lives in the Tullwood Apartments near the encampment, said, “They continue to do their campfires and they burn everything, plastic everything it gets pretty bad.” Todd added that the area has been plagued by crime, noting, “We hear gunshots all the time, last week I heard one, the week before that I heard a couple.”
Bellingham Mayor Kim Lund said the city is committed to clearing the encampment after extensive litigation with the property owner. The cleanup will be a multi-phase effort, she said.
However, some residents are concerned about potential violence during the cleanup.
Amy Towner, a former on-site property manager at Tullwood Apartments, said, “There are many people that are armed, so if anyone thinks that police are going to say let’s move along and they’re going to move along without a fight and there’s not going to be any gunfire and no problems they need to be very prepared for that.”
A resident of the encampment, who identified himself as Mac, said they feel misrepresented. “It just happened and some of us can’t get out of it and we’re stuck,” he said. Mac expressed a desire for more support from the city, saying, “They don’t give us any resources like an ultimatum or where can go next or nothing they just keep kicking us from one woods to another.”
Mayor Lund stated that the city has been working to help those at the camps find housing and that the cleanup process will take time. Crews plan to clean and fence the area, but some residents worry the encampment will simply return.
“They have to have somewhere safe for them to go as well. So I don’t know how easy that’s going to be,” Todd said.
The city is seeking grants to help fund the cleanup, and the property owner of the Tullwood Apartments is also expected to contribute financially.