Yakima orders homeless to move to new encampment

YAKIMA – Yakima officials are ordering residents of a homeless encampment to pack up and move, offering them a place to relocate near the city police department.

The Yakima Herald-Republic reported that a notice handed to the residents Thursday says they must leave the campsite by Monday. Yakima code administration manager Joe Caruso, who served the notices, says any belongings left at the site will be seized and available for pickup by the owner.

Yakima Neighborhood Health Services is helping members of the homeless encampment move to the new site in a parking lot across the street from the police station.

The location was suggested as an alternative after the City Council failed to approve an emergency ordinance for a vacant lot owned by Neighborhood Health.

AP-WF-07-08-16 0720GMT