06:36 PM PDT on Friday, June 9, 2006

KING5.com

WOODINVILLE, Wash. - Tent City 4 will soon be on the move again. A judge has ruled that the 71 homeless campers must leave a Woodinville church grounds by June 17.

King County Superior Court Judge Charles Mertel said he grappled with the decision. But he pointed out that the camp and the city had an agreement that they would not come back on such a short notice.

"The defendents are in clear violation of their own agreement with the city of Woodinville," he said.

After two weeks of testimony, Mertel sided with the city of Woodinville, ruling that Tent City 4 is on church property that is under a building moratorium, that doesn't allow for a homeless encampment.

The Woodinville City Council had voted to not let the camp stay.

The residents plan to appeal. They have no place to move to as yet.

When Tent City 4 moved to a church in Woodinville on May 13, there were confrontations between neighborhood residents protesting the move and homeless activists.

KING

Tent City Four residents left St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Bellevue in May.

The tents are set up in a wooded area at the Northshore United Church of Christ, far from the last camp in Bellevue but much closer to controversy. The residents hoped to stay for 90 days.

The protesters said the issues were safety and Tent City’s lack of a permit.

“I do take solace in the balance restored to land use system which is really our issue,” said Woodinville City Manager Pete Rose.

“I think what the judge has done has potentially delivered a life or death sentence to the residents of Tent City 4,” said Rev. Sandy Brown of the Church Council of Greater Seattle.

Northshore United Church of Christ and the Church Council of Greater Seattle say there aren't enough shelter beds to accommodate the residents.

This was the second time Tent City 4 has been to Woodinville in the past two years. In 2004 the city footed the expense for the encampment.for the last two months.

Tent City 4 is where Mohria and Alan Chochola call home.

“At first, it scared me,” said Mohria Chochola. “I started looking at alternatives people on the street, shelters and realized it was worth giving it a shot.”

The former Boeing employee found Tent City four after layoffs and health problems left him and his wife homeless.

“We have no place to go,” Alan Chochola said. “We don't know where we are going to wind up.  I am absolutely devastated by this.

Bothell could be the next stop for Tent City 4. If the city grants them the permits, residents could be moving to First Evangelical Lutheran Church on Aug. 12.