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Kenmore neighbors concerned house full of squatters is putting their children at risk

By Joanna Small
By Joanna Small

People who live in a Kenmore neighborhood say a house full of squatters is putting their children at risk.

The house is right across the street from an elementary school and children have found used needles near the playground.

As a parent of three Moorelands Elementary School students, Marcilla Proudfit proudly shows off the newly renovated park the students use for recess.

“The baseball field is currently not done but the kids can come all the way out to here,” she said, showing us how the property stretches to a church parking lot just behind the school.

The park and the playground are public, which hasn’t been a problem until several children found dirty needles near it.

“As the PTA president, I help moderate a couple of our Facebook groups and there were concerning messages at the beginning of the school year about activity that people were noticing in the area,” said Proudfit.

That activity included two arrests made just off school property. One of the arrests, which was made yesterday, put Moorelands Elementary on lockdown.

But it’s one house in particular that seems to be an ongoing problem.

“There’s been known criminal activity and concerns about the tenants and people who were living there and whether that was a safe situation to have so close to the school,” said Proudfit.

How close?  The house in question is on the northeast side of 155th Street, so only a street separates the house from the church parking lot and only that street and the church parking lot separate the house from the playground.

One neighbor, who didn’t want to appear on camera or give her name, said there have been citations and arrests at the property.

"They do not own the house, no.  So there were people in tents in the front of the house. They have been asked to move so the front is all cleared up,” she said.

One of those tenants, who didn’t want to appear on camera, told us all that stuff is now in the back, and he’s camping out there.

The King County Sheriff’s Office said it knows this area and knows this house is a problem.

A number of deputies are stationed there for that reason, but they can’t evict the tenants, even if they’re there illegally, unless the owner agrees.

Now there’s a Facebook page specifically about the house, but Facebook can’t protect the park, the playground or the school.

“Our kids are here day in and day out and it seems to be escalating,” Proudfit said.

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