Douglas County will extend `temporary' farmworker housing

Douglas County commissioners say they likely will extend the operation of a farmworker housing camp, but criticized the state for failing to create new on-farm housing for migrant workers.

The 350-bed tent camp has operated for four years near Pangborn Memorial Airport, but is scheduled for closure next year. Commissioners from Douglas and Chelan counties said the state needs to find on-farm housing to replace the tent camp when it closes.

"We need long-term solutions," Douglas County Commissioner Ken Stanton said Monday during a meeting with Chelan County commissioners and state legislators.

"I had hoped the state would come up with a plan by now to house workers on site," Stanton said. "We can sit here and throw tent camps up everywhere, but I don't think that's the answer."

Douglas County Commissioner Mary Hunt said that when the five-year contract for the Pangborn tents was signed, local officials expected the state would help develop migrant housing on farms by the time the Pangborn contract expired.

"That hasn't happened," she said.

The Pangborn camp is located on Douglas County Port District property that is intended for commercial development.

Meanwhile, efforts in both counties to find other sites for migrant housing closer to orchards are stalled by resident opposition and state regulations, the commissioners said.

Chelan County Commissioner Keith Goehner said the county is looking for sites in the Malaga and Squilchuck areas. Chelan County operates a state-funded 380-bed tent camp in Monitor.

Agriculture and housing organizations have plans to build farmworker housing in the Malaga area.

However, Sen. Linda Evans Parlette and Rep. Mike Armstrong, both R-Wenatchee, and Chelan County commissioners said they have fielded complaints from Malaga residents who oppose the project.

Two projects to build additional farmworker housing in Douglas County also are stalled. One 128-bed project in East Wenatchee was stopped by neighbor appeals, and another that would have added 125 beds at Brays Landing is held up by state regulations, the commissioners said.

Housing on farms is best for orchardists and workers and has less impact than a larger tent camp in a public place, such as Pangborn, Goehner said. The state has made some progress by providing money for the development of on-farm housing, he said.

Janet Abbett, program manager for the state Department of Community Trade and Economic Development, said her department has paid for 481 seasonal beds on farms over the last two years. Another $4 million will be available over the next two years, she said.

On-farm housing is a partial solution, with community-based housing financed by nonprofit groups or local governments, she said.

Last year, the Paul G. Allen Foundation awarded a $250,000 grant to build permanent and seasonal farmworker housing in communities around the state, including the seasonal camps in Douglas and Chelan counties.

Officials at Monday's meeting said the state needs to adjust its regulations to make it easier to locate farmworker housing on farms. Goehner said it doesn't make sense that workers can't sleep in their own tents at orchards, while federal firefighters are allowed to sleep in tents while fighting fires.

"Things just aren't working the way they are right now," he said. "We have some housing but it's not meeting the needs."