City of Olympia, WA

10/15/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/16/2025 11:25

10/15/2025 - Percival Canyon encampment is now closed

Percival Canyon encampment is now closed

On October 7, the City of Olympia completed a 16-month effort to close the homeless Percival Canyon encampment located near the Olympia Automall. This effort falls under the Rights-of-Way Safety Initiative under the Department of Commerce (2022) to deliver housing and services to individuals and families living in certain state-owned rights-of-way. Since July 1, 2025, thirty-two individuals that had been living at the encampment were placed in temporary shelter units at the Franz Anderson, Quince Street or Plum Street tiny home villages.

City staff began working with the unhoused Percival Canyon residents in the summer of 2024 on a transition effort that would be implemented across four phased areas of the site. A phased approach allowed staff to focus on the unique needs of a smaller number of individuals, locate housing options, and address the least accessible and greatest fire risk areas first.

Before beginning an established encampment closure the City first identifies housing units able to accept those living at that encampment. This approach is driven by the City of Olympia One Community Plan, a community-driven plan that addresses the housing and homelessness crisis through a balanced approach of compassion and accountability.

Residents in the Percival Canyon closure's final phase of work were notified of their phase's timelines in May of 2025. Over the following five months the process has steadily progressed.

The City's pre-closure process includes identifying the people living at a site, creating a 'by name' list (based on a certain point in time), and then locating and providing an offer of housing for those listed individuals. Following these steps has allowed for a considered approach to addressing encampments located on state or City rights-of-way.

Not every person on the list and living in Percival Canyon was able to be housed. Some individuals declined to accept the offer. Others were not able to be located during the phased closure and relocation time periods.
Housing unit availability is extremely scarce throughout the region. However, at the time of the encampment's closure, City staff were able to locate five additional available housing units. This enabled staff to transition six people not previously on the 'by name' list from the Percival Canyon site into housing.

The former Percival Canyon encampment site is now closed to camping. By October 24, any remaining material at the site will have been removed.

The City of Olympia's Homeless Response Team and Police Department are monitoring the area. Anyone found camping is notified of the site's closure and given local resources information.

Washington State Department of Commerce Encampment Resolution Program funds helped to make this work possible. On October 7, Olympia City Council approved an Interagency Agreement with the department to accept $330,000 to operate 30 beds at Quince Street Village, $1,200,000 to operate the Franz Anderson Tiny Home Village, and $246,751 to support the efforts of the City of Olympia's homeless outreach staff.
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Contact
Community Planning and Economic Development
Homeless Response
[email protected]
City of Olympia, WA published this content on October 15, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on October 16, 2025 at 17:25 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]