Seaside council allows limited parking for group feeding homeless camp until camp move

Seaside City Council voted to allow up to five vehicles associated with Nourish Those in Need to park on city property to deliver meals to the sanctioned homeless camp, with conditions and a limited time frame running until the camp is relocated.

The vote follows a prolonged public discussion that included city staff outlining safety and access concerns, numerous residents and local business owners describing negative neighborhood impacts from the camp and from visitors, and multiple speakers supporting the nonprofit’s work feeding people at the camp.

City staff described three options: open the vacant lot across from the camp, reopen the previously closed Mill Ponds parking lot on a limited basis, or designate some other city property. Staff cautioned that street parking near the camp had been restricted for safety — the street is an entrance to…