Everett police told be cautious when enforcing parking laws

EVERETT, Wash. — Police outside of King County are being warned about how they deal with parking enforcement following a judge’s ruling that states a vehicle can be considered a home.

The prosecutor for the City of Everett told police they need to be careful with how they enforce parking laws for vehicles that are being lived in, The Daily Herald reports.

A spokesperson for the Everett mayor’s office told the Herald the case involving Steven Long resulted in the re-evaluation to the city’s approach parking enforcement. The city, the spokesperson says, wants to strike a balance between the ruling by King County Superior Court Judge Catherine Shaffer and the impact on the community.

The city will tow vehicles if the person living inside refuses services provided by the city and it is “negatively impacting” the surrounding area — or if there is criminal activity associated with the vehicle, the Herald reports.

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It’s an issue that surfaced when Steven Long’s 2000 GMC truck was towed in Seattle for violating the city’s 72-hour limit. The Columbia Legal Center and ACLU stepped in. Judge Shaffer ruled in favor of Long, basing it on an old homesteading law from the pioneer days.

The attorney who successfully argued in favor of Long said treating a vehicle someone is living in the same as any other is inappropriate. It doesn't mean the city can't enforce its parking laws. Instead, it means the owner can't face the same stiff penalties.

“That system, when applied to desperate people, is just unconstitutional,” she said.

There were 1,066 people without a permanent place to stay during the 2017 Point-in-Time Count. Of those, about 34 percent reported sleeping in a vehicle.

The 2017 Point-in-Time Count is the latest full homeless report for Snohomish County. The 2018 report is pending. However, preliminary numbers show there may be a small overall decrease in the number of homeless people in the county.

KIRO