Rocks were dumped outside a Puyallup homeless resource center. Who is responsible?
Big rocks have mysteriously appeared in front of the New Hope Resource Center in Puyallup.
In front of the center at 414 Spring St. is a grassy patch with some picnic tables.
Volunteer Phyllis Smith told The News Tribune the rocks appeared in late November. Smith has been volunteering at New Hope since the center opened in 2014.
Smith said the rocks might have been placed there to prevent people from “camping out.”
Homeward Bound in Puyallup owns the land New Hope is on. The organization does not own the area where the rocks were dumped, according to Pierce County’s geographic information system.
New Hope Executive Director Paula Anderson told The News Tribune the rocks are on the city’s property. She said the city’s parks and recreation department placed them there. Those who visit the center usually gather in the area, she said.
“[Now] they don’t have a place to stand or hang out,” Anderson said. “They’re forced to go other places.”
Puyallup resident Laura Vargas spoke at the Nov. 21 Puyallup City Council meeting about the rocks. She told The News Tribune that New Hope has been a part of her life since her parents helped establish it.
It is “jarring” to see rocks in a place where people seek companionship, she said.
Anderson said the rocks have not deterred people from receiving services at the center. New Hope is unable to remove the rocks because it is not on their property, she said.
When asked about the rocks, city spokesperson Eric Johnson wrote in an email Jan. 2: “The City does not and will never dump rocks onto private property.”
The News Tribune asked Johnson again, specifically about the space the rocks were dumped on. He wrote in an email Jan. 19: “That corner section is our property. We placed stones on our property to preserve the space from getting damaged. In the past, we have had issues with maintaining the vegetation in that section. So far, the stones have been successful in preserving the property.”
This story was originally published January 22, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
