UPDATE: City cleanup crews at Longfellow Creek encampment site; ‘resolution’ in future

| Delridge | Environment | West Seattle news

ORIGINAL MONDAY REPORT: Thanks to the texter who sent that photo of city and contractor crews along the east end of Sylvan Way (north of The Home Depot) earlier today. They were there for an encampment on Longfellow Creek. Not long after receiving the photo/tip, we went over for a firsthand look, but the last crew was leaving. The nearby Vietnamese Cultural Center and others have voiced concerns about the encampment; we checked with the city Unified Care Team to find out exactly what was happening today, and spokesperson Kate Jacobs replied, “The Unified Care Team deep-cleaned an area today in Longfellow Creek Greenspace at Sylvan Way SW by removing accumulated trash and debris related to an unauthorized encampment. UCT will provide ongoing trash mitigation to reduce the public impact of this site until a full resolution can be completed. Simultaneously, outreach teams continue engagement efforts as they work to connect individuals with shelter and supportive services that meet their needs.”

ADDED TUESDAY MORNING: We asked Jacobs about a timeline for the “full resolution.” Her reply today: “The Longfellow Creek Greenspace is scheduled for resolution in the next 3-4 weeks. We do not provide specific resolution dates in advance, since schedules are subject to change based on a variety of factors including site conditions and resources. UCT will provide ongoing trash mitigation to reduce the public impact of this site until the resolution is complete.”

Sillygoose April 28, 2025 (7:26 pm)

Finally!! Complaining for months about this mess, the fires, men lined up at 8:30am with bikes, compressors, one guy had a tool box from the bed of a truck, filth in the stream, loose dogs, along with Home Depot shopping carts full of lumber!! Why does the City allow this?

DS April 28, 2025 (8:52 pm)

Cleanup is not an eviction. Are the “structures” still there?

Sanity Check April 28, 2025 (9:05 pm)

Not sure why they don’t supervise the illegal campers while those people that made the mess clean it up.

Admiral-2009 April 28, 2025 (10:16 pm)

The City keeps talking about equity and fairness, why is it that when I or one of my neighbors leaves an extra trash item out we are charged for it by the City? But people trashing a stream are not being held accountable?

Brian April 29, 2025 (5:39 am)

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Yeah I agree. The city should mail them a bill to the place where they reliably receive their mail. I wonder where that is?
K April 29, 2025 (6:30 am)

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Have you and your neighbor actually been charged or are you assuming because you see rules about it on the SPU website? I ask because my neighbor regularly leaves out extra trash (including things like small appliances stacked on top). They also put their compost into the wrong bin, and have all kinds of ideas about what belongs in the recycling. SPU has handled this by sending them letters and pamphlets educating them on proper disposal and rules. I know this because they’re elderly and don’t speak much English, so I’ve talked to the Waste Management drivers (who asked what language they speak for the pamphlets) as well as their kids when they come to visit about the issue. Kids who actually pay the bill say they’ve never been charged extra (and they’re working with them on the rules, it’s a process). This has been an ongoing issue for at least 5-6 years and they’ve never been charged.
- New Deal April 29, 2025 (10:20 am)
  
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  Yep, they charge. Once, on a windy day, I had a plastic empty planter pot blow into the alley. It was not intended for the trash and in fact is recyclable if clean. The garbage guy charged my account and attached a picture of the pot in the middle of the alley. He assumed it was mine because my bin was closest. $12. I called city and they removed the charge admitting it inappropriate. So…yes, check your bills. My neighbors have been charged for a bin that won’t fully close.
ltmmgm April 29, 2025 (6:41 am)

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You know the old saying. You can’t get blood out of a turnip, well thats what it would be to hold those people “accountable” for the mess they’ve made. On our way to Home Depot we saw a small camp set up on SW Barton Pl / 22nd SW its on a public right of way (sidewalk) Neighbors might want to call it in before it gets much larger.

K April 29, 2025 (6:23 am)

A ton of new RVs just showed up in the recently-swept Barton/Cambridge/Henderson area. Was wondering where they moved from.

anonyme April 29, 2025 (6:24 am)

Agree that the campers themselves should be cleaning this up, not taxpayers.

I love facts April 29, 2025 (6:24 am)

Just a fascinating fact about homelessness (wait for it): the government admitted just this week that in Yemen it ‘lost’ 7 super fancy drones that cost 30 million each, plus, one of our super cool expensive fighter jet-carrying ships near Yemen let one super fancy fighter jet slip off the deck and accidentally drop into the sea. Oops. And here’s the interesting thing: the cost of those eight pieces of equipment would be enough to pay the rent of every single homeless person in Seattle for one entire year.

Jay April 29, 2025 (4:04 pm)

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Most people don’t even know that we’ve been at war with Yemen since 2002. A whole boots-on-the-ground war (with American troops killed) going on ten years so far that we’re funding while our people sleep on streets. We even did a naval blockade that starved the civilian population and could be considered ethnic cleansing. The cost of that war could pay for so much. The Houthis and so many extremists exist because we’ve launched so many Predator drone missions that children fear sunny skies. The children born when the first boots hit the ground in 2002 were not allowed to play outside or go to family events, and now they’re 23 year old hardened terrorists who have only known America as an evil empire. We used a double-tap drone strategy in the 00s and 10s where a second drone strike would hit the same spot fifteen minutes after the first to kill police and medical personnel. So much cruelty, so much money, but we’re too poor to put people up in efficiency apartments?

B M X April 29, 2025 (7:59 am)

when will we figure out that “wack a mole” isn’t working, nor is “handing out free pipes, syringes, and narcan” isn’t a good plan?? I took a pedal thru downtown yesterday early AM and you just cannot believe your eyes. People passed out everywhere, garbage and feces in the sidewalks, and boarded up buildings w/ “for lease” signs on many of them. these people need help, need proper facilities, need to get weened off of drugs, and cleaned up out of our society, until they are deemed safe and accountable. totally unacceptable that in this day and age, in a great city like we live and many of us have families in, that we have to all endure, AND PAY for all of this.