Burien, Washington, City Says Oasis Home Church Encampment Violates Zoning Codes

The Burien City Council held an executive session last Monday to discuss “litigation or legal risks” associated with a new church-based encampment in the city. The council’s nighttime outdoor sleeping ban took effect December 1.

After the city swept a longstanding encampment where many of Burien’s unsheltered residents had been living, a number of those people moved into a structured encampment at Oasis Home Church, which has operated since November 1. Speaking for people who lost their place to sleep after the sweep, the church’s encampment offers a model of protecting the vulnerable (Proverbs 31:8-9).

Burien City Manager Adolfo Bailon and City Attorney Garmon Newsom II have said the encampment cannot operate without a temporary use permit, which would limit encampment operations to no more than 60 days in any calendar year. At last week’s council meeting, Bailon said, “Oasis Home Church remains in violation of the city’s zoning codes,” which do not allow encampments. He added, “The city is not aware of how, if at all, public safety is being addressed at Oasis Home Church. We do not know of any protections in place to protect the people in the encampment and at the community at large.”

In a letter dated November 30, the day before the sleeping ban took effect, Burien assistant city attorney Ndiabou Diagana explained the city’s position. State law explicitly allows churches to host homeless encampments, and Diagana acknowledged that state law supersedes city codes. He argued, however, that the city may still require a temporary use permit because state law bars cities only from enforcing laws that impose a “substantial burden” on the free exercise of religion. Diagana wrote that requesting a permit to learn “how, where, how long, and in what fashion the encampment will be run” is reasonable and within the city’s authority to protect health and safety. The letter also said the 60-day limit should not be a problem for the church, since the encampment’s supporters have said it would be temporary. PubliCola noted that a 60-day limit would require the shelter to close on December 30, one month after the ban took effect.

PubliCola also reported an apparent tension in the city’s position. Many council members who voted for the sleeping ban have repeatedly said that religious and private charities, not the government, should bear the burden of helping homeless people in the city.

Oasis Home Church’s lead pastor, Mark Miller, did not respond to a request for an interview. The city declined to answer a list of questions from PubliCola, and a spokeswoman said the city could not comment on legal matters. It is unclear whether the city plans to sue the church or the Burien Community Support Coalition, a nonprofit started by Councilmember Cydney Moore. Moore lost her reelection bid and was excluded from the executive session because, according to Newsom, she would be a “party” to any future legal action.

Before joining most of the council in closed session, Newsom accused Moore of misrepresenting her connection to the encampment and said she “denied entry to a member of the press who was attempting to enter this site.” The person Newsom referred to was Jonathan Choe, who is described as a staffer for the Discovery Institute and who posts videos of himself confronting homeless people and activists on X. Choe’s video of his encounter with Moore shows him attempting to enter the fenced encampment and Moore asking him to leave. Laws against trespassing, along with basic ethical standards, generally prevent members of the press and the general public from entering privately operated shelters, sanctioned encampments, transitional housing for domestic violence victims, and other places where homeless and formerly homeless people live without consent.

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