Ballard businesses say neighborhood in tug-of-war as homeless camps pop back up after sweeps

SEATTLE — Businesses in Ballard and homeless advocates say encampment sweeps seem like one step forward and two steps back. Businesses said they’ve watched encampment sweeps only to see the camps pop up again a few blocks away.

Tuesday morning, the Leary Way Triangle was the point of contention in the Ballard neighborhood. That encampment popped up Friday after one, a few blocks away, was cleared. That was at 11th Avenue Northwest. Businesses near that camp put out eco-blocks after the sweep in hopes to keep more tents from popping up.

“They’ll still pull them away and the next day you’ll have a block in the middle of the road and an RV parked there but it seems to help for a while,” said Rocky Markham, a shop manager at Carsoe US on 11th Avenue Northwest and Leary Way.

People who live and work in Ballard said the neighborhood is caught in a tug-of-war.

“There are new businesses coming in, there are new folks moving into the neighborhood, and then on the other side we have whatever this is that’s pulling on the other direction,” said Sutter Home and Hearth President, Daniel Hammer. “You can’t sweep it away.”

Even homeless advocates said encampment sweeps just mean more campers out of sight. Or one camp is cleared but creates several more.

“Most of them have been swept numerous times before, six to seven times before and they ended up here,” said Bruce Drager, Advocate and Founder of Green Lake Homeless Advocates. “This is going to be an increasing problem as I said they’re running even lower and lower on viable transitional housing options for these folks. They don’t have any place to go.”

Ballard’s streets have seen two encampment sweeps in the last week. The first was on Friday at an 11th Avenue Northwest encampment. Many of those campers just picked up and moved a few blocks down to the Leary Way Triangle. That path was cleared Tuesday morning but those campers again, just moved across the street. It’s the second time in a year.

“I think you have to make it easier to get treatment than it is to get drugs,” said Hammer. “It’s nice that it’s been cleared out but again, it’s across the street.”

“You can’t have people out here smoking fentanyl and zonking out all over the streets,” said Markham.

Drager said the first step to recovery is safe housing. He also said it’s hard to get people the resources they need when they keep scattering.

“By participating in this process of sweeping they’re undermining their own efficacy because they can’t stay connected with those people to really do the kind of effective outreach. So we’re shooting ourselves in the foot by doing the sweeping,” said Drager.

Drager also said the people he’s worked with all preferred tiny homes as transitional housing. Of the people swept in Ballard, he said only two of around 25 accepted the shelter offered, with beds.

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