The Union Gospel Mission said Monday that 42 people still live in the area under I-5 known as The Jungle.
The Union Gospel Mission said Monday that 42 people still live in the area under I-5 known as The Jungle. City of Seattle

Four days after the Seattle City Council approved a plan to clear a sprawling homeless encampment under I-5 known as The Jungle, the city has given notice to the people living there that they have until 8 am on October 11 to leave, the Seattle Times reports.

Personal belongings will be available to be picked up for 60 days at a city storage facility on Airport Way South near South Industrial Way.

“This is not an authorized area for storage or shelter,” the notice posted at The Jungle says. “Crews will begin work in this area. There is risk of injury from heavy equipment that prohibits general public access.”

Once the area is clear of people, trash and belongings, the Department of Transportation will begin work to upgrade a dirt access road to The Jungle area, said Travis Phelps, a WSDOT spokesman.

The Jungle has been a years-long political struggle in Seattle—protesters camped outside former Mayor Mike McGinn's house in 2012 when McGinn's administration planned to clear the camp—but it came to a head for current Mayor Ed Murray in January, when five people were shot in the area. Since then, Murray has argued the area is inherently dangerous. The police and fire departments have said it is home to rampant crime and lacks good access for emergency responders. City and state officials will improve access roads in the area after people are forced to leave. This spring, Murray's administration announced a plan to sweep the area after two weeks of outreach, but backpedaled after criticism. Since then, the Union Gospel Mission has been doing outreach in the area. According to Seattle City Council member Mike O'Brien, of the 357 people UGM talked to in the area, only 28 moved into permanent housing or drug treatment services. Some have been sent to another temporary encampment nearby.

O'Brien and other members have argued that the area could be made safer for homeless people (with things like improved lighting and sanitation services) rather than cleared and made off-limits entirely. On Monday, O'Brien, Kshama Sawant, and Lisa Herbold voted against the resolution outlining the plans to clear the area.

"The problem with resolutions like this is that...it is dressed up as something different, but it is ultimately about sweeps," Sawant said. "Whenever the Greenbelt has been and is swept, the reality is hundreds of people are left with nowhere to go. Sometimes they lose their tents and possessions, sometimes not. And then they set up camp somewhere else—in this case in the ID. Then, the city repeats the process all over again. Millions of taxpayer dollars are spent and all that is achieved is misery."