'This is ludicrous': Swimming pool installed at Seattle encampment angers neighbors

SEATTLE (KOMO) — A sprawling homeless encampment alongside a Seattle freeway has a new addition this summer.

Someone installed a swimming pool at the encampment that has been growing for months between SR 509 and Myers Way in the Highland Park neighborhood.

Where the pool came from and how it was filled with water is not clear, but neighbors who have been raising safety concerns about the encampment said it is a slap in the face.

“All of this is ludicrous," said Herb Egge, who lives in senior apartments across from the encampment. “These people come in and totally trash the place. Someone told me they hooked up a hose and filled a swimming pool with it.”

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The encampment has grown from just a few RVs in the spring to now at least 15. Egge said since the encampment started, his car has been broken into multiple times, and someone just drilled into his gas tank.

“I never dreamed I would have to worry about things like this when I was 72, but times have changed. As elderly people, especially, we should not have to worry about our possessions or our lives," he said.

Egge and other seniors who live in the apartments near the encampment said they regularly hear gunfire coming from the encampment, to the point that some seniors said they keep their curtains closed out of fear of a bullet coming through the wall.

"When I hear the shooting, I stay down and away from the windows," said Cheryl Galyeam. "There are times I've had to get on the floor in the middle of the night. It's not safe."

In May, a man was killed in the encampment days after a KOMO News report on safety concerns from seniors who live across the street at the Arrowhead Gardens apartments.

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"We thought, 'Oh wow, there’s been a homicide there. They are going to give us some attention now.' They didn’t," said Diane Radischat, who lives at Arrowhead Gardens. "We want the solutions, and we know what the problems are. When you’ve had the same problem repeatedly in different locations, you know what needs to be done.”

Radischat got a letter from the Seattle Mayor's Office Wednesday that said the city, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), and the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA) are coordinating a plan for the encampment.

"We recognize that this has been a long and often frustrating process for residents at Arrowhead Gardens, and we are pleased that we are moving closer to a site resolution. The Unified Care Team is also discussing with WSDOT possible short-term activation strategies following site resolution to help prevent repopulation," the mayor's letter states.

WSDOT is scheduled to meet with Arrowhead Gardens residents later this month to update the situation with the encampment.