Thank you for contacting the City of Kent Public Works Operations, your request has been received.

Thank you for contacting the City of Kent, our Special Emphasis Crew will work to schedule a clean up of Riverview Blvd. They did find active homeless camps which have been reported to the Police Department.

This area currently has an Adopt-A-Street Program, if you would like to join in or if you are interested in the City of Kent's Adopt-A-Street Program please visit https://www.kentwa.gov/residents/volunteer-opportunities/adopt-a-street for additional information.

This solid waste location appears even larger than 1st observed. It is along a run off to the Green River. It would seem that waste is heading into the salmon bearing river system.

Has a time line for a response been identified?

We are currently waiting on the Police Department to clear the active homeless camps. Once the camps are cleared we can move forward with scheduling cleanup. Thank you.

Any action on this reasonable request for service?

This request for service is approaching 2 months. The solid waste field has grown and/or is more visible due to the fallen trees.

There have been large homeless camps and related messes in the woods north of this section of Veterans Dr. They were reported to the City of Kent in early March 2020. Here is a picture I took from Veterans Dr. last March 4th.

Issue 9002618 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue.

I believe the map marker for Issue 9002618 more accurately identified the location of this problem area which as the original written description identified as being on the South side of Veterans Drive. That being said the photos I added to 9002618 will be now added to this request.

As I stated in Request 9002618 with the 3 pictures above, this area does not look like an active homeless camp.

Thank you for the clarification, staff is aware of the location and the activities there. There is still an active encampment that is a part of this larger area but less visible to the traveling public. Kent PD is aware and will be posting the site as soon as they are able. The work will be scheduled behind other higher priority locations and during dryer weather due to safety issues regarding the slope of the terrain.

What's going on with this 3 month old request?

Hi Reese,
Due to safety concerns we are still waiting for weather to improve before crews can go in and complete cleanup. We will make sure to keep you updated with new information as it becomes available for this request.

1/13/2021: Update. This homeless camp mess south of Veterans Drive first reported via this Kent Works request 3 months ago, and which I added pictures taken on 12/4/2020 is still there and the mess appears to have grown since 12/4.

Reference Request # 9244448 which was submitted and closed out today (1/25/2021).

The location of this mess is just a little further down the hill from the dumping referenced in # 9244448.

It is unfortunate that Public Works continues to decline service at this location. The solid waste piles have appeared to only have increased and the suspected run off into the nearby Green River could be horrible for water quality.

Hopefully, when the weather improves; Public Works will finally respond.

Hello Gentlemen,
We have previously had staff inspect the area of concern and they were able to confirm any items that have been left are a considerable distance from any runoff or the waterway. Additionally, as we have stated previously, due to the slope and terrain of the area we have to wait for weather to improve before sending staff to clear the location as it poses a safety risk under current conditions. We will make sure to keep you updated with new information as it becomes available for this request.
Thank you!

Illegal encampment cleanup is a very expensive and time consuming task. There are no funds currently available to address these areas. We continue to research different funding opportunities which may include grants targeting this type of cleanup. We will update this request as the situation changes.

Please provide an update to the grant process. The solid waste locations appear to be growing. The photos were taken today from Veterans Drive.

This area is on hold until a funding source is identified. No grants at this time.

Hello, After recent review of this request with staff we have determined that we are unable to address this concern at this time. This is a Public Works area of response. However, at this time staff do not have adequate resources to safely clear this area. We have been unable to acquire necessary funding for this project. Our resources are limited, and work must be prioritized in way that will be of best use of our community. Thank you for reporting this request, we will continue to monitor the area and this report has been flagged to be reopened if funding or resources later become available and we are able to clean the area. Thank you.