A property appraiser will visit two properties this week that Jefferson County officials are eyeing as potential sites to provide housing for the homeless.
County officials were also scheduled …
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A property appraiser will visit two properties this week that Jefferson County officials are eyeing as potential sites to provide housing for the homeless.
County officials were also scheduled to meet this week with the city of Port Townsend over the county’s proposal to buy 30 acres on Mill Road to set up a campground for the homeless.
That meeting is expected to set out any outstanding issues for creating a tent encampment that would eventually be used by people who are now camping at the county fairgrounds in Port Townsend.
County Commissioner Greg Brotherton, who will attend the meeting with other county and city officials, said a draft site plan for the Mill Road property would be shared with Port Townsend for input.
A property appraiser hired by the county is expected to visit the land on Mill Road Wednesday as part of the county’s investigation into purchasing the land, and will also visit the former Jefferson Community School building to conduct an appraisal.
County officials continue to search for a new location to house people who have been living in the homeless encampment at the county fairgrounds, some since the start of the pandemic.
Officials are eager to find a new location for the homeless as the statewide moratorium against evictions ends Sept. 30, and with it, comes the possible removal of the homeless encampment.
“It’s going to be tight,” Brotherton said Monday of the work needed at the Mill Road site and the looming deadline.
“It’s not going to be done. It’s going to be like the Death Star. The look of partially finished, but we will at least have the basics in there,” he said.
County commissioners authorized a purchase-and-sale agreement in July for the potential acquisition of 30 acres on Mill Road as a site for a homeless camp.
The land, made up of five parcels, is undeveloped, with a sale price of $600,000.
The closing date for the sale has been set to expire Sept. 13, according to the purchase-and-sale agreement.
If the county eventually buys the land, officials plan to use grant money from the American Rescue Plan Act to pay for the property.
County officials have also been considering the purchase of the former Jefferson Community School building, across the street from Memorial Athletic Field in Port Townsend, as a potential place for transitional supportive housing to serve families and individuals.
