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• <br /> /4/1Pfr/M I A <br /> ORDINANCE NO. 2994-07 <br /> An Ordinance Amending the Zoning Code Ordinance No. 1671-89, <br /> as amended (Title 19 EMC), by Adding Regulations for Homeless Encampments <br /> and Repealing Ordinance No. 2920-06 and Ordinance No. 2968-07 <br /> WHEREAS, the City Council does find: <br /> 1. The City of Everett intends to protect the interests and needs of Everett <br /> neighborhoods, while continuing to partner with Snohomish County to address <br /> homelessness; and <br /> 2. Providers of shelters and services for the homeless already offer 607 <br /> shelter/emergency beds within Everett as well as vouchers to motels; and <br /> 3. The City of Everett is a leader among cities in Snohomish County in long-range <br /> planning to address homelessness. Recognizing that the problem is complex and includes <br /> temporarily as well as chronically homeless people, the City has participated in the <br /> Homeless Policy Task Force that produced the 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness in <br /> Snohomish County and has been a member of the Housing Consortium of Everett and <br /> Snohomish County, which focuses its efforts in getting people out of the temporary <br /> shelter network and into longer-term housing, then helping people maintain housing; and <br /> 4. In the last several years, neighboring jurisdictions such as the cities of Bothell, <br /> Kirkland, and Bellevue were surprised by the arrival of homeless encampments on <br /> property owned by local churches and/or temples with little or no notice to the respective <br /> jurisdiction; and <br /> 5. The absence of regulations that addressed homeless encampments in neighboring <br /> jurisdictions did nothing to deter homeless encampments from establishing themselves in <br /> the aforementioned neighboring jurisdictions, leaving these jurisdictions little time to <br /> prepare an ordinance, give notice and opportunity to comment to neighborhood residents <br /> and negotiate the terms of a temporary use permit; and <br /> 6. There are constitutional and statutory constraints on the City's ability to prevent or <br /> regulate homeless encampments in Everett; and <br /> 7. The Washington Constitution does not prohibit government from requiring religious <br /> institutions to go through the permit application process and allows government to <br />