Associated Press
SPOKANE — Following blowback against a city in Washington state that voted to place basalt boulders under a highway overpass to deter homeless people from camping there, a city leader is now calling for creating a “tent city” instead.
The Spokesman-Review reported Thursday that Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart’s tent city idea came after he heard from “hundreds” of people opposing the boulder plan, with many calling it inhumane.
Struckart pushed for the boulder plan and sped it through the council’s decision-making process. He then posted an apology on his Facebook pages.
Spokane’s Community and Neighborhood Services Division director Johnathan Mallahan says city law allows for temporary encampments.
Such a camp would need a sponsor agency, a site plan, sanitary facilities and rules of conduct.
The city has organized a forum on homelessness set for Sept. 25 at Spokane City Hall.
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