In September, the council tweaked the city’s homeless camping ordinance to allow campers to stay for a six-day period at the entrance of Mill Ponds off Alder Mill Avenue. That would still require a one-day move-out for campers in the program, which requires a permit from the Seaside Police.

On Oct. 10, Community Service Officer Paul Knoch recommended postponing the move-out day one week as weather dictated. “How hard will it be to get them to move when it’s pouring rain?” Knoch asked. “It’s hard enough when it’s nice. To add to it doesn’t seem to me to be wise.”

The city repurposed the Mill Ponds parking lot site after implementation of the overnight camping ordinance in May after closing down a temporary campsite on city-owned land at 10th Avenue and Necanicum that had become increasingly difficult to manage.

Facilities include running water, portable restrooms and garbage collection.

The rules originally required campers to move their belongings daily. When that proved impractical and the City Council increased the length-of-stay to six days, with a move-out day on Thursdays.

Knoch asked the City Council to cancel the Thursday move-out and try again the following week.

“It’s raining right now,” Knoch said. “I wouldn’t want to be out there in this weather.”

Thursday move-out day continues to be a challenge as a result of campers not moving out on time and property abandoned. There are campers with severe mental and physical challenges who require assistance with moving out.

Many of them carry handfuls of items about 125 yards outside of the camp to the south side of the recycle center until the Mill Ponds camping area reopens, Knoch said.

“They plop it all down there,” he said. “They don’t even take their tent down. Most of the time they just lift their tent up, carry it in there and then they sit there for six hours until we let them back in.”

City Manager Spencer Kyle said he recommended trying out the plan on a trial basis, with enforcement to start this week.

“I think we’ve been nimble enough and flexible enough to be able to come back and modify as needed,” Kyle said. “We want this to be successful. It’s working well for not only our unhoused population, but for our downtown businesses, for our visitors and for our residents.”

With indoor warming shelters yet to open Seaside, concern is not just for inconvenience but the potential safety of campers. The Mill Pond location is a wetland and will flood during heavy rains and high tides, Knoch said. “We had a really nice and dry summer so we haven’t run into this yet,” he said. “But it will happen.”

Last month, the Mill Ponds temporary camping area drew 19 tent campers and six in vehicles. The average age of participants is 45; 18 out of 25 campers are male. The youngest couple are in their 20s; the oldest camper is 71.

“Some of them come for a night or two and then leave. But we do have a core group that have been successfully participating in the program for over 60 days,” Knoch said.

Overall, the camp is working in that it provides an option for those experiencing homelessness, added Knoch.

Calls for service have been relatively minor and there have been no major incidents, he said, although there are reports of drug use within the camp. The tent area is difficult to manage as tent sites and boundaries are not clearly marked.

But areas in Seaside that were formerly occupied with transients are now clear of encampments. Having a designated location makes it easier for advocates and agencies to provide assistance to the homeless population.