Laurel Park tent camp still active despite mayor’s promise

By Joe Teehan March 24, 2021 7:10 am

KGMIThe Laurel Park tent encampment is still active on Wednesday, March 24, 2021 despite mayor's promise that it would be short-lived. (Photo: Mike Davis)

BELLINGHAM, Wash. — Following a promise by Bellingham Mayor Seth Fleetwood that the revived homeless tent camp at Laurel Park would be short-lived, the site is still active.

At 3 a.m. Wednesday, roughly a dozen tents were visible at the park, a barrel fire was burning, and several campers were milling around.

At Monday’s City Council meeting, Fleetwood addressed council members about the Laurel Park camp, saying they made a decision to uphold the Bellingham Municipal Code which prohibits
camping in public parks, and that’s what they’re enforcing.

The amount of debris visible on the ground at Laurel park has been growing throughout the week, despite a large container-sized dumpster the city placed at the site at the time the encampment first sprung up.