BELLINGHAM, Wash. — The Unity Village tiny house community has operated in Bellingham's Fairhaven neighborhood for the past five years.
It was never supposed to be permanent.
Now, the city needs to expand its sewage treatment facility onto the Unity Village property, and finding a new home for the homeless community housed there is proving difficult.
John Coughlin never thought he'd end up homeless. He lost his job of 26 years to COVID-19 cutbacks, then lost his home.
Now, home is Unity Village where Coughlin lives with 22 other people getting by on the bare basics in life.
"It's about feeling safe, secure and feeling valued," Coughlin said.
The nonprofit HomesNow! runs Unity Village. It is one of two tiny home communities that Bellingham wants to combine into one on a piece of city-owned property along Northwest Avenue.
The property abuts North Coast Credit Union which has an agreement with the city stating no more than eight housing units can be built there.
The combined villages would bring up to 52 tiny homes, along with twice the number of vehicles as parking spaces.
North Coast CEO A.C. Griffith said the community would not be so tiny -- and is not a good fit.
"We're not opposed to the villages," Griffith said. "We're proud to live in a city that takes care of its homeless, but I think the units they're constructing would be in conflict with the contract. 52 is a much larger number than 8, but we are open to conversations with the city."
Organizers at the Unity Village counter said the tiny homes in question are not really "housing units" covered by the contract and that they should be allowed in.
"These don't technically qualify as 'dwelling units' because they're temporary shelters," said Doug Gustafson, Unity Village chairman. "A dwelling unit would have actual plumbing in the unit and have a foundation. I think there is some confusion between what is a dwelling and what is a shelter."
Unity Village has a 58% success rate in getting people into stable housing.
Coughlin is among them. He's moving into a home in a couple of weeks and hopes the villages will still be around to help others make their moves.
"It's a wonderful stepping stone," Coughlin said. "I would not be anywhere close to doing as well as I am if I didn't have this place."
All parties have until spring to find a solution.
Folks from HomesNow! plan to plead their case for the new location to a county hearing examiner on Aug. 9.