Temple cites religious freedom to fight Bellevue tent-city limits

A Bellevue synagogue Monday appealed the city's tough new restrictions on hosting Tent City 4, claiming the limits on length of stay and number of people violate the synagogue's religious freedoms.

The lawsuit, citing the First Amendment and a 2000 federal law that protects religious groups in land-use decisions, is the first local challenge on religious grounds of a city's homeless-camp law.

Bellevue imposed restrictions on religion without a compelling reason, according to the lawsuit filed in King County Superior Court.

Temple B'nai Torah and Seattle Housing and Resource Effort (SHARE), which runs Tent City 4, sued the city just two days before the temple is to begin hosting the camp. The temple still plans to welcome the group Wednesday after its three-month stay east of Woodinville, even while questions of the city's authority are left to be answered.

"We feel that God is with us, but we don't say that in any way that would disparage other people," said James Mirel, the temple's senior rabbi. "The whole idea of reaching out to the poor and needy is part of our Jewish tradition."

City spokesman Tim Waters said that the city does not comment on pending litigation but that its regulations on homeless camps were "fair and equitable" and provided "for the needs of both the homeless and city residents."

The Bellevue City Council last summer approved the regulations, among the strictest in the region, outlining everything from identification checks to the number of toilets. Earlier this month, city Planning Director Matt Terry issued a permit for Tent City 4's stay at the temple but did not grant several exemptions requested by the temple.

Monday's appeal disputes seven of the city's requirements, but two stand out as the "crux of the appeal," temple attorneys said. The city said the camp can stay for only 60 days, and because the temple was not providing enough toilets and showers, it can host just 40 people.

The temple wants to host the camp for 90 days with as many as 100 people, like the camp's stays in other Eastside cities.

A shorter stay would require the camp's residents to be uprooted at least twice more in a year, which is "significant," Mirel said. Limiting the camp to 40 people could push as many as 60 others out on the streets, at the mercy of the elements, he said.

The camp has about 45 people at its location near Woodinville but expects 70 or 80 during the winter months, said Bruce Thomas, a Tent City resident and camp adviser.

Camp officials are waiting to see how the city will enforce the law and how many people show up at the temple before they decide who stays and who goes.

"I don't want to be the one to turn people away," Thomas said.

Since emerging in Seattle 15 years ago, tent cities have attracted opposition. The most significant challenge came over El Centro de la Raza, a Beacon Hill community center that was one of the earliest hosts of Tent City 3, which started in 2000.

The city denied the center's permit application to host the camp, but the camp's organizers appealed to King County Superior Court. In 2002, a judge ruled that Seattle had improperly denied El Centro a permit, and the city settled the case through a consent decree that made tent cities legal in Seattle under certain conditions.

In its lawsuit this week, the Bellevue temple cited the Tent City 3 consent decree, including its requirements for a 90-day stay and as many as 100 camp residents.

The consent decree also came up during a permit battle over Tent City 4's stay in Bothell last year. The camp has also operated in Kirkland and Woodinville, and faced some level of opposition in each place.

Citing religious freedom as the primary defense, though, is not as common. Mirel said his Reform Jewish congregation is obligated to follow the tradition of Tikun Olam, or "repairing the brokenness in the world."

The temple is Bellevue's first site for a homeless camp, and has an obligation to clarify the city's rules and pave the way for future hosts, Mirel said.

Tent City 4 residents plan to uproot themselves early Wednesday morning from their temporary home at Woodinville Unitarian Universalist Church and set up on a long strip of grass next to the temple, at 15727 N.E. Fourth St.

The temple does not plan to add showers or toilets to allow for more than 40 people, said Chuck Wolfe, a temple attorney.

At a public meeting last month, many of the temple's neighbors urged city officials to uphold the requirements passed by the City Council last summer.

At some other sites, protesters have greeted the camp's residents as they arrived. Mirel is hoping the situation in Bellevue will be different. "We want to make sure they have a very welcoming environment when they do come," he said.

Ashley Bach: 206-464-2567