For proponents of Quixote Village, the dream is the same: building 30 one-room cottages for the homeless on Thurston County property off Mottman Road that would become the permanent home of Camp Quixote, now an itinerant tent city.
But it now appears that the 30 or so campers – who moved this weekend from Westminster Presbyterian Church off Boulevard Road to Olympia’s First United Methodist Church – will have to endure another winter in the elements because of protracted legal appeals.
Some businesses near the proposed village site have challenged the City of Olympia’s attempt to issue a conditional use permit to allow the village in an industrial zone.
A group calling itself the Industrial Zoning Preservation Association – along with landowners John Peranzi, Vallie Jo Fry and Isobel Cairone – appealed the case to Lewis County Superior Court in June. They have questioned whether an industrial site is appropriate, since heavy trucks go in and out, creating noise and other impacts.
“Basically, I think everyone knows that Mottman Road is a lousy place to put this place,” said Peranzi, who owns property that abuts the proposed village site, in an August hearing before the Olympia City Council.
The council has supported the Quixote Village project, and agreed to change its comprehensive plan to allow permanent homeless encampments earlier this month, in response to another appeal from opponents.
mbatcheldor@theolympian.com
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