(The Center Square) – King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn is looking to clean up the homeless camp near Green River in unincorporated King County that has drawn complaints from local residents for several years.

The Green River flows from Auburn through Kent with the homeless encampment growing larger as more complaints from local residents keep coming in.

Dunn is looking to clear the encampment as a pilot project for how King County can remove encampments in rural areas outside city limits.

“The conditions we are seeing at the Green River encampment are deplorable and inhumane,” Dunn said in a statement. “This is no way for anyone to live, and certainly not fair to the surrounding community that deserves a neighborhood that is safe and clean.”

“To make progress, we must start setting boundaries on what is acceptable, address the root causes of homelessness head on and get folks into shelters and into treatment,” Dunn continued. “This legislation gives us the opportunity to learn the best way to do that.”

As of now, King County does not have a procedure for clearing camps in unincorporated areas.

Dunn is seeking in his newly announced legislation would create an interagency taskforce including “at minimum the Department of Community and Health Services, the Local Services’ Roads Division and the Sheriff’s Office, working in collaboration with the King County Regional Homelessness Authority.”

KCRHA lately has focused its efforts on the downtown Seattle area where the homeless crisis has become a big issue for the city.

KCRHA was unable to comment on its efforts by the Green River area by press time.

In Dunn’s statement, he brings up his latest tour of the Green River encampment on June 28 in which he witnessed large piles of trash and human waste along the stream. In addition, “dozens of vehicles were accumulated at the side of the road in what appears to be a chop shop operation, and $130,000 worth of equipment was found that had been stolen late last year from a local youth soccer team that kept the equipment at a nearby ball field,” Dunn said.

This is not the first time Dunn has attempted to remove encampments in unincorporated King County. In November 2021, Dunn and then-King County Councilmember Kathy Lambert sponsored legislation that would have created guidelines for removing unincorporated homeless encampments. It failed in the Local Services Committee in the same month.

“The Committee’s rejection today of creating basic guidelines for what conditions make it allowable to remove homeless encampments, such as violence, crime, or the presence of untreated sewage or biohazardous waste—is neglectful of our duty to the families and businesses who now must bear the burden of these conditions with no recourse,” Lambert said in a joint statement with Dunn following the Local Services Committee’s vote.

Eight months later, Dunn is back for another try. His legislation will be introduced to the King County Law, Justice, Health and Human Services Committee within the next few weeks.