Days after The Olympian published a story about an elected official and others touring the homeless encampment known as the Jungle — a meeting that was spurred by concerns about recent violence at the camp — readers had more questions about the site between Martin Way and Pacific Avenue near Interstate 5.
Chief among those questions: Who owns the land? The answer: Although the city of Olympia owns some of it, most is privately held by a business called JJP Group LLC, which also owns the Chevron station near the camp on its Pacific Avenue side.
A representative of JJP Group LLC declined to comment.
The Olympian, working with a Thurston County Assessor’s Office representative, identified six parcels owned by JJP Group between Martin Way and Pacific Avenue that total 16.40 acres. The city owns two parcels that total 6.75 acres.
Why does the city own those parcels and what arrangement do they have to access the site for camp residents?
The city-owned property was purchased in June 2021, said Assistant City Manager Stacey Ray.
“The city purchased the property for multiple uses including, but not limited to, the future extension of Ensign Road and to allow the city more flexibility in managing several informal homeless encampments and providing other housing and homeless services to individuals living there,” she said.
Accessing the private property, including a large chunk of land near Martin Way, is the result of a two-year option agreement to purchase land in the area that was agreed to between the city and JJP, Ray said.
That option is still in place, she said, and it specifies that access will be allowed for trash cleanup, homeless outreach activities and for the installation and construction of fencing between the camp and neighboring businesses, she said.
The property outlined in blue is owned by JJP Group LLC, according to the Thurston County Assessor’s Office data. Much of that property is occupied by a homeless encampment called the Jungle.
Neighbors weigh in
The Olympian decided to ask a neighboring business owner about the experience of operating next door to the camp.
THC of Olympia, a marijuana retailer, couldn’t be closer. The business is situated steps away from the front entrance to the camp at 3200 Martin Way E.
THC owner Ciaran Wilburn, who has been there for about nine years, said the camp has evolved from one he described as a group of “old-timers looking to escape society” to what he called a “large drug and mental health crisis.”
Wilburn said he does not have many issues with the people who occupy the camp, but he scoffed at a city officials who say the city is doing a good job of balancing accountability with compassion at the Jungle.
“This is compassion?” said Wilburn as he stood outside his business and gestured at the camp.
He rattled off a list things that would help: better defined camp spaces, more sanitation services, running water and security cameras that might prevent crime.
“Put the camera systems up you have in the grocery store parking lot, so at least there’s the illusion of security,” he said.
Wilburn wasn’t done.
“This is the most accepting area I’ve ever visited, and this is how we’re dealing with this? It’s a joke,” he said. “Nine years of watching this, the city’s a joke.”
What do camp residents say?
The Olympian spent time at the front entrance to the camp to interview those coming and going. Those interviewed were uncomfortable with using their full names, but they did agree to first names and ages.
Former long-term camp resident, Danielle, 35, pulled up in her car to pick up some people on the fringe of the camp. She recalled it was kind of cool to build her own shelter there, but although the camp was safe for the most part, it had an “uncomfortable energy.”
She said she was finally able to get housing with the assistance of the Family Support Center. She said there needs to be more shelters for women, so they don’t have to wait as long in a camp like the Jungle for housing.
“It’s not right, it’s not fair,” she said.
Does the camp govern itself? She said it is self-governing to a degree and that people hold each other accountable. When young people enter the camp because they are curious about it, they are told to leave, she said.
“It’s not OK. The young should not be here.”
Mark, 36, originally from California, said he has lived in the camp a long time.
“I like it here,” he said, adding that he has freedom in the camp and nobody bothers him. He described the camp as safe.
C.J., 49, who was sitting in the backseat of Danielle’s car, said she lived in the Jungle for five years before she secured housing.
She said the camp has a hierarchy, but it’s not too different from regular society in that there’s an expectation that you’ll pick up after yourself and not touch other people’s stuff.
There was a time when the camp had an “aura of peace and calm” to it, but not in the last 18 months, she said.
In that time, The Olympian has reported about a rape at the camp and the violent assault of a woman by a group of people.
Wolf, 59, said he has lived at the camp for the last six to seven months.
“The goal is to get out of here,” he said.
He, too, said the camp is 95% safe, although there are a few characters in the Jungle that account for that 5%.
“A lot of people help each other,” he said, adding that it feels like a “big, loose, chaotic family.”
Equal time
When The Olympian wrote about the tour of the camp, one of those on hand was Olympia City Council candidate Wendy Carlson, who is challenging incumbent Clark Gilman.
Gilman did not participate in that tour, so in the interest of equal time, The Olympian reached out to him after Tuesday night’s council meeting to get his thoughts about the camp.
Here’s what he had to say:
“I agree that the living conditions are not appropriate for anybody at the Jungle, but I also recognize the reality that we don’t have the resources to just end it,” he said.
“And so instead, we’re in a position of managing it as best we can, and that’s been through a combination of policing, of social work and mutual aid outreach, of having our crisis responders be in relationships with people there.”
Gilman also said that without policy changes the problem continues.
“There’s not a finite number of people who are very poor or who are not able to access health care services that they need,” he said. “And as long as we keep minting more people who are very poor, and as long as we keep reducing what’s available for health care, we’re going to continue to have more individuals who are in this situation that we’re trying to help as best we can and to manage the situation.”
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