SEATTLE - The homeless encampment named for Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels has moved to West Seattle following a federal judge's decision not to block its eviction from the South Park neighborhood.
But it may not be staying there for long.
Nickelsville moved Thursday night to Terminal 107, a park in the 4700 block of West Marginal Way Southwest that belongs to the Port of Seattle. It's east of the West Seattle Golf Course and south of the West Seattle Bridge.
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However, Port of Seattle spokesperson Peter McGraw says the Port has no legal authority to have an encampment there. McGraw says the park is normally closed overnight and that, if the Nickelsville residents are there after park hours, they are in volation of the posted law there.
As of late Thursday night, Port police had not been contacted to remove the encampment. There was no indication whether the residents were voluntarily moving out.
U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez issued his decision to uphold the Nickelsville eviction from the South Park location Thursday.
About 70 residents had been ordered to leave an undeveloped lot, at Second Avenue Southwest and Highland Park Way Southwest in South Park, which is owned by the state Transportation Department. Their lawyer, Robert S. Siegel, wrote that without an order blocking the eviction, their constitutional rights would be violated.
Siegel and Assistant Attorney General Bryce E. Brown Jr. did not immediately return calls for comment.
Nickelsville was established in September. It has moved to a number of sites since then.
