PORT TOWNSEND — Now come the plans for opening ceremonies.
The colorfully painted tiny homes built off San Juan Avenue have been transported to Pat’s Place, the transitional housing village at 10th and Rosecrans streets.
Thursday morning, crews from All-City Auto Body & Towing in Port Townsend and Evergreen Collision in Sequim arrived at the building site, a field beside the Evangelical Bible Church. They were there to pick up and move seven units — free.
All-City Evergreen owner Dave Anstett said he took a look at the job of moving the village and decided he wouldn’t charge anybody for it: not the volunteer builders and not Bayside Housing & Services, which will co-manage Pat’s Place.
The tiny homes were built to provide shelter to single people who, unable to find housing, applied for help from Bayside.
Pat’s Place, to open in January if plans go well, is a village similar to Peter’s Place, the site Bayside co-manages in Port Hadlock.
Bayside, having leased the Pat’s Place land from Randall Johnson with an option to buy, hopes to eventually use the property for longer-term housing for families in need.
“I see what this is doing for the community. It’s a couple days out of our year that’s going to help people for a long time,” Anstett said as his workers pushed another tiny home onto a moving truck.
Judy Alexander, a volunteer who helped build these units, said two ceremonies will happen at Pat’s Place.
“We’re reaching out to the neighbors first,” to introduce them to the Bayside caseworker and site manager who will work with the residents of the village.
The second opening event will be for donors, government officials and volunteers, Alexander added.
“We don’t want to have too many people, because of COVID,” so neither ceremony will be a big public party, Alexander said.
The tiny homes will be furnished, heated and lockable: a warm place to live while regaining one’s footing, volunteer coordinator Debbi Steele has said.
She focuses on the people who have donated money, time, curtains — and, this week, transportation by truck.
“The generosity of this community … ” she said, trailing off.
Not everyone was pleased when news of the Pat’s Place idea emerged. The city of Port Townsend’s Development Services Department received more than 200 comments on the permit application, most of them opposed to the village’s location.
Bayside’s plan, however, met the criteria to receive the permit, said Development Services Director Lance Bailey.
Like its predecessor at Peter’s Place, the Port Townsend site will come with a code of conduct for people who stay in the tiny homes. Among the 27 rules: No alcohol, illegal drugs or guns are allowed on the premises; quiet hours are in effect at all times, and residents must participate in weekly village self-governance meetings.
A few things are desired before people move in, Steele said.
She’s hoping for donations of compact refrigerators like the ones college students use in their dorms. And for the kitchen-commons unit, a full-size fridge is still needed.
To donate such items or find more information about transitional housing in Jefferson County, see www.baysidehousing.org.
Back at the building site, neighbor Lisa Brice took photos Thursday morning of the house movers. She relocated to Port Townsend a year ago from SeaTac, and has since seen two sets of tiny homes depart.
“I watched the first round of this,” she added, referring to the day in December 2020 when the units built for Peter’s Place were trucked to Port Hadlock.
Brice smiled as she went back to work in her office, whose window faces the field full of trucks and tiny homes.
Steele pointed out something the neighbor didn’t mention.
Brice “let us use her electricity,” she said.
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Jefferson County senior reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3509 or durbanidelapaz@peninsula dailynews.com.
