Port Angeles City Council to hear shelter options

Published 2:45 pm Wednesday, April 8, 2026

PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles City Council took several actions toward addressing homelessness and encampments this week.

During a more than five-hour meeting Tuesday, which included a 90-minute work session on the topic, the city council passed several motions.

One directs city Manager Nathan West to bring back a proposal for managed sheltering, including options for sanctioned encampments and safe parking for council consideration on May 19.

“So what I’m hearing and what I’ve heard in my interviews and my outreach and presentations is that, where I think we can start and just kind of shore up is to establish our clear data-driven-like roadmap that balances the need for managed sheltering with the protection of our business district and natural ecosystems,” council member Amy Miller said.

Another motion directs city staff to report back to the council on May 19 with an analysis and implementation of a public-facing standard operating procedure for encampment response.

“The intent I see is like just clarification on what happens when an encampment is reported, the time frames involved, how determinations are made and just what a resolution looks like for everyone,” council member John Hamilton said.

That motion would involve adding information to the city’s website about the process that’s used to clean up encampments, including how much notice will be provided before a cleanup.

Since March, the council has heard presentations from multiple agencies and organizations that work with homeless people and attempt to mitigate the impacts of homelessness on Port Angeles.

Tuesday’s work session included quick summaries of those presentations before the council began its discussion of the topic.

One motion which did not pass was from council member Drew Schwab, who wanted to direct city staff to bring a timeline to the council which would address updating the Port Angeles Municipal Code by addressing camping on city property, creating a standalone ordinance with more comprehensive and clearly defined framework that reflects current state law and best practices.

In speaking against the motion, Deputy Mayor Navarra Carr said while she supports updating the city code, she does not support the current code in regards to homelessness “as it criminalizes people for not having a place to live,” she said.

“I think it’s disingenuous for us not to call it what it is when the actions that come from being unhoused are what is being criminalized in our code,” she said.

One issue city staff faces in regard to the unhoused population, according to a presentation from Parks & Recreation Director Corey Delikat, is that of keeping the city’s 24-hour restrooms clean.

“They are easy to maintain and clean but are also used for encampments, vandalism, drug use, garbage and create daily challenges that are very hazardous for our staff to clean,” Delikat said. “These challenges put our employees in awkward situations because they never know what to expect when they open the doors of our public restrooms. Needles and clothes are often flushed down the toilets which forces staff to have to remove the toilets to unplug the situation.”

The department is evaluating whether only one of the 24-hour facilities should be kept open overnight in order to protect the existing infrastructure.

Caretaker Jessica Adams told the council that it takes a full day to clean all of the restrooms and that the department does not have the staff for more facilities.

Concerned about the effects caused by shutting down bathrooms, council member Mark Hodgson motioned to direct staff to prioritize the availability of all of the city’s 24-hour restroom facilities and recommend to council where the next two 24-hour restrooms should be sited.

“I understand that keeping all of those open does require additional work on staff. However, my concern is that, by reducing it to just one, we are leaving less options for people, and some of that may result in some of the refuse that we see around the community,” Hodgson said.

The council approved the motion.

One motion that failed was to direct city staff to bring a timeline to the May 19 meeting of when staff could identify additional locations for public trash cans.

During a presentation from city staff, council members were told about the various interactions different city departments have with the homeless.

Police Chief Brian Smith said the department’s role is in four areas which overlap, and those are the department’s emergency response, its co-response, the community and problem-oriented policing, and general law enforcement efforts.

The department responded to 800 welfare checks in 2025, Smith said.

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Reporter Emily Hanson can be reached by email at emily.hanson@peninsuladailynews.com.