Shelton City Zoning Code

The facility is located on the property of a community organization.

No part of a temporary homeless encampment shall encroach on setbacks between properties, or into a critical area or critical area buffer.

Visual screening from the neighboring properties is required around the perimeter of the temporary homeless encampment, and must meet the screening requirements of Section 20.40.040(E)(1).

Exterior lighting must be directed downward and contained within the temporary homeless encampment.

Children under eighteen that are unaccompanied by a parent or guardian are not allowed in the temporary homeless encampment.

The host shall provide and enforce within said encampment a written code of conduct, which not only provides for the health, safety, and welfare of the temporary homeless encampment residents, but also mitigates impacts to neighbors and the community. The code of conduct shall, at a minimum, prohibit:

The host and temporary homeless encampment residents shall comply with applicable state statutes and regulations and local ordinances concerning, but not limited to, drinking water connections, solid waste disposal, human waste, outdoor fire or burning, electrical systems, and fire-resistant materials.

The host shall provide access to restroom facilities available twenty-four hours a day, access to kitchen facilities for three hours per day, and access to shower facilities at least two times per week. In addition, the host shall ensure there is at all times an adequate source of water for both sanitation and drinking.

The host shall provide a contact to the city and resident who is responsible for ensuring the required standards are met, enforcing camp code of conduct requirements, assisting with rule-making for residents, and providing residents with information regarding available social services.

All conditions listed in subsection A of this section;

The managing agency and/or host shall appoint persons to serve as a point of contact for the Shelton police department. At least one such person must be on duty at all times at an encampment. The names of the on-duty members shall be posted daily, and their contact information shall be provided to the Shelton police department;

The managing agency and/or host shall allow inspections of the temporary homeless encampment by Mason County public health, and shall timely implement all directives within the time period specified by Mason County public health. The managing agency and host shall immediately report to Mason County public health suspected food poisoning, unusual prevalence of fever, diarrhea, sore throat, vomiting, jaundice, productive cough, or when weight loss is a prominent symptom among occupants;

The managing agency and/or host shall allow inspections of the temporary homeless encampment by the city’s code enforcement officers, community and economic development officials, and fire marshal. The managing agency and host shall implement all directives resulting from such inspections within forty-eight hours of notice, unless otherwise noted;

The managing agency and/or host shall not allow individuals with active warrants to reside in the encampment. The managing agency and/or host shall advise prospective residents that, with the assistance of the Shelton police department, warrant checks will be run. The managing agency and/or host shall take all reasonable and legal steps to obtain verifiable identification from prospective temporary homeless encampment residents;

The managing agency and/or host shall immediately contact the Shelton police department if someone is rejected or ejected from the temporary homeless encampment if, in the reasonable opinion of the on-duty point of contact or on-duty security staff, the rejected/ejected person is a potential threat to the safety or health of the community;

The managing agency and/or host shall not allow within the encampment any structure, other than tents, canopies, or other membrane structures, that is greater than two hundred square feet or provides shelter for more than nine persons without first obtaining a building permit;

Said encampment shall not be materially detrimental to the public welfare or injurious to the property or improvements in its vicinity;

The managing agency and/or host shall take all reasonable measures to minimize the possible adverse impacts that the temporary homeless encampment may have on the areas in which it is located;

Required minimum on-site parking for the host site’s permanent/other uses shall not be either displaced by said encampment or used to meet said encampment’s parking requirements, unless a shared parking agreement is executed with adjacent properties to compensate;

Because each temporary homeless encampment has unique characteristics, including but not limited to size, duration, uses, number of occupants, and composition, the community and economic development department shall have the authority to impose conditions to the issuance of the permit for temporary homeless encampments to mitigate effects on the community upon finding that said effects are materially detrimental to the public welfare or injurious to the property or improvements in the vicinity. Conditions, if imposed, must relate to findings by the department, and must be calculated to minimize nuisance-generating features in matters of noise, waste, air quality, unsightliness, traffic, physical hazards, and other similar matters that the temporary homeless encampment may have on the area in which it is located;

Public Meeting and Notice Thereof. The host and managing agency shall participate in an informational public meeting organized by the city. Notice of the public meeting shall be mailed at least fourteen days before the meeting to (a) owners of all real property within three hundred feet of any boundary of the proposed temporary homeless encampment site; and (b) any neighborhood organization in the vicinity of said site whose contact information is known to or made known to the city. The purpose of the meeting is to provide the surrounding community with information regarding the proposed duration and operation of the temporary homeless encampment, conditions that will likely be placed on the operation of said encampment, the proposed written code of conduct, and to answer questions regarding the temporary homeless encampment; and

Notices required in this section shall be provided by the city on behalf of the applicant.

Each instance has been reported to the city of Shelton, and

Each instance has been abated within the twenty calendar days.

The date that the temporary homeless encampment will commence;

The duration of said encampment;

The number of residents to be accommodated on the site;

The host location;

The names of the managing agency and host, with contact information;

Detailed information on how the temporary homeless encampment will comply with the requirements of this chapter and the International Fire Code;

Copy of proposed code of conduct;

Permit application fee, which shall not exceed the actual cost associated with the review and approval of said application; and

Site plan showing at least the following:

Not cured following notice from the city and an opportunity to cure such violations;

Intentionally or knowingly committed by the managing agency or host; or

So severe as to substantially threaten public health and safety.