PORT TOWNSEND — After spending 10 days at Jefferson County Fairgrounds, a small tent community has pulled up stakes and relocated about a mile away to Fort Worden State Park, where the seven residents say they will be more comfortable and welcome.
The move came last Sunday after an unsuccessful attempt to persuade fair management to allow a longer stay and grant a discount from the $85 fee paid for five campsites.
The new location is still temporary, and they must move again by Sunday, according to its residents.
The camp was created March 13 by eight people staying at the Port Townsend Winter Shelter, which closed for the season that day.
At that point, a loosely organized advocacy organization called the Affordable Housing Action Group raised the money to stay at the fairgrounds and is working toward finding permanent homes for the residents according to one of its members, Barbara Morey.
The group spent $765 at the fairgrounds, Morey said, and expects to pay $550 for the Fort Worden campground.
As of Monday, the group had raised a total of around $1,800 through a crowdfunding effort and direct contributions in the name of Port Townsend Tent City at First Federal Bank.
On Monday, Fort Worden State Park manager Brian Hageman was not aware of the group but said that the camping limits — a 20-day maximum prior to April 1 and 10 days during the tourist season — were set by law and could not be changed.
Park fees are similarly controlled, he said, but campers can earn a night’s free stay with four hours of volunteer work, although such arrangements need to made in advance.
The group must leave the campsite by Sunday due to advance reservations, but it could possibly return after a few days, Morey said.
While the residents originally numbered eight people, one man, Steven Plachta, hasn’t stayed in the camps for the past week, Morey said. Police have not been contacted.
“This is a lot more accommodating,” said Anthony “D.J” Larsen, 22, about his new location.
“The bathrooms are closer, and when it rains, it doesn’t become a mudhole.”
Larsen said park rangers were friendly and welcoming when the six-person group moved in Sunday with four tents and a trailer.
“We told the ranger we wouldn’t be all that loud, but he said we couldn’t possibly as noisy as the Boy Scouts who were here before,” Larsen said.
Larsen, who said he has been on his own since he was 17, is inspired by the support so far.
“It’s good to know there are good-hearted people out here willing to offer a hand to others who are trying to survive in their community,” he said.
John Prentice, who has worked as camp host and manages the Affordable Housing Action Group’s Facebook page, has another view.
“I’ve learned that you can’t go in somewhere and expect people to change the policies that are already in place,” he said.
Prentice said that he’d like the group to stick together if possible but acknowledges that living with the same people for an extended time can be difficult.
“I’d like to keep the group together. A lot of this has been positive,” he said.
Larsen said that the group argues and gets on each other’s nerves occasionally, “but it is about little stupid things, like brothers and sisters squabbling.”
Morey said she would like to place the residents in a more permanent situation.
The Affordable Housing Action Group intends to continue its efforts to develop low cost housing in Port Townsend and plans a strategy meeting from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Friday at the Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 2333 San Juan Ave.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
