Four city council members---Richard Conlin, Nick Licata, Sally Bagshaw, and Sally Clark---sent a letter to Mayor Mike McGinn today saying the council can't take action on Mayor Mike McGinn's proposal for opening a temporary encampment in SODO until the city has completed environmental review under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), a move PubliCola predicted earlier this month.

The legislation McGinn sent the council on  March 1 would require the council to change the city's land use code and comprehensive plan to allow housing on industrial land.

The letter says: "While we share a sense of urgency in addressing the underlying issues, the timeframe for completing the environmental review is not under control. The Council will consider the proposed legislation when we can legally do so."

The council members add that they will continue to consider McGinn's proposal to fund environmental remediation on the proposed encampment site at the former Sunny Jim's peanut butter plant in SODO. However, they add, "The financial strain on the City continues to grow and new expenditures need to be considered in the context of our larger budget challenges. Additionally, there may be other alternatives to explore that may help more individuals find safe shelter and permanent housing, and at a lower total cost," such as low-income apartments, shelter space in churches, the current Nickelsville site in Lake City, or another site that doesn't require environmental cleanup.

McGinn spokesman Aaron Pickus said the council was being hypocritical by moving forward on the deep-bore tunnel while putting the encampment in deep freeze. "When it comes to the tunnel, they're going to move heaven and earth to move forward" even before the state has completed a final environmental impact statement, Pickus says. "But when it comes to homeless people who don't have a permanent place to live, they don't do anything."

Asked whether it was only fair for the council to move forward on the encampment, even before the SEPA process is complete, given that they're pushing the tunnel forward without a finished environmental review, Conlin said the two projects weren't comparable. "[McGinn's encampment proposal] is land use legislation. It's not equivalent. SEPA's really specific set of regulations under the Growth Management Act, and we can't take any action until SEPA review is completed," Conlin said. In contrast, the tunnel does not require SEPA review; signing the legislation only affirms that "the agreements [with the state] are good."

Pickus acknowledged that the encampment can't actually happen until the SEPA review is complete, but adds that the council could hold public hearings, get feedback from the community, and have committee meetings to discuss the project before environmental review is complete. "They can talk about it, they can do anything" short of actually approving the encampment, "they're just choosing not to," Pickus says. "They're not willing to discuss it with the public."

Even moving forward with public hearings probably wouldn't do much to expedite the project: A group of SODO businesses has said they plan to sue to stop the encampment from moving into their neighborhood, either under state law, under city law, or under SEPA.