A King Mountain resident who says she was threatened with a knife is challenging a petition asking Bellingham to delay encampment enforcement. (Photos courtesy of Julie Jansen Dorn)
BELLINGHAM, Wash. — A King Mountain resident who says two men from a nearby encampment threatened her with a knife is challenging a petition that asks Bellingham officials to delay enforcement at the site.
Julie Jansen Dorn lives near the sprawling encampment east of Meridian Street and north of East Kellogg Road. She said years of crime, fires, trespassing and environmental damage have left neighbors feeling unsafe in their own community.
The petition urges Mayor Kim Lund and the Bellingham City Council to halt the upcoming enforcement action. Organizers want the city to first establish a managed, low-barrier outdoor camping site with sanitation and waste services.
“There are no easy solutions, but asking our neighborhood to continue bearing the burden indefinitely is not one of them.”
Julie Jansen Dorn, King Mountain resident
Resident Describes September Confrontation
Dorn told PNW Daily that two men stole from her property in September 2025. When she confronted them at about 2:50 p.m., she said one man pulled a knife.
Police later found that man carrying four knives and a handgun, according to Dorn. She said he was a convicted felon with 19 prior offenses. However, PNW Daily has not independently verified those details through court or police records.
Dorn said prosecutors reduced the case to felony harassment. The man spent less than 30 days in custody before returning to the encampment, she said. Dorn received a protection order.
“My family, my neighbors, and countless property owners have lived with the consequences of this encampment for years,” Dorn said. “Violent crime, fires, explosions, environmental damage, animal abuse, trespassing, theft, toxic smoke and fear. Those voices deserve to be heard too.”
She also described several incidents reported by neighbors. Those included a man allegedly following a runner while carrying an ax and a home invasion on Van Wyck Road. In another case, she said a shirtless man stood on a family’s deck and banged on the door while two children remained inside with a babysitter.
PNW Daily has not independently confirmed those incidents.
Petition Warns Enforcement Will Spread Encampments
The opposing petition argues that removing people without providing another place to go will push campers into Bellingham’s remaining natural areas. Organizers specifically warn about further damage along the Whatcom Creek corridor.
Trash Club’s coordinator wrote that volunteers have removed more than 80 tons of waste from the downtown creek corridor over five years. The material reportedly included needles, weapons, biohazards and industrial chemicals.
Since January, the group has partnered with the Bellingham Parks and Recreation Department to place six 55-gallon trash cans along four blocks of the corridor. According to the petition, those cans collect about 1.5 tons of additional waste each month.
“The environmental destruction we are witnessing is not a failure of individual campers but the direct result of a lack of structural alternatives provided by the city,” the petition states.
Organizers want the city to create an interim outdoor site with waste collection, hygiene services and management. They maintain that the site should supplement permanent housing efforts, not replace them.
The petition had collected 233 verified signatures toward a stated goal of 500 as of Wednesday.
Neighbors Question Who Bears the Cost
Dorn disputes the petition’s suggestion that delaying enforcement would adequately protect the wider community. She argues that it gives too little attention to nearby residents and people who have allegedly experienced violence inside the encampment.
“The petition talks about protecting people in the encampment, but it says little about protecting the residents who have been living beside it for years or the victims of crime who are from inside the camp as well,” Dorn said.
She also questioned whether everyone living at the site would accept shelter, housing or services if offered. Although additional housing and tiny homes could help some people, Dorn said those projects would not resolve every problem associated with the encampment.
Moreover, Dorn said she has not personally seen the petitioning organization conduct cleanup work in or around King Mountain. Trash Club’s petition focuses primarily on its cleanup work along Whatcom Creek in downtown Bellingham.
“How much longer should one neighborhood be expected to bear the burden while waiting for a perfect solution?” Dorn asked.
City Says It Does Not Conduct Indiscriminate Sweeps
Bellingham officials have said the King Mountain encampment presents a legitimate public safety concern. The camp extends across at least seven public and private parcels, according to information previously presented by the city.
The city’s published encampment policy states that officials do not conduct indiscriminate sweeps without notice. Instead, staff evaluate reported camps based on health, environmental and safety hazards, location and available shelter.
When officials determine that a camp on public property presents a public health or safety risk, occupants receive notice to leave. Outreach workers also provide information about available services. Crews then remove waste and debris left at the site.
Private property owners remain responsible for camps located on their land. That division has complicated the response at King Mountain, where much of the encampment sits on privately owned property.
Whatcom County counted 337 unsheltered people during its 2025 Point-in-Time Count. Sixty-eight percent were in Bellingham, according to figures cited by the petition. Meanwhile, the county’s 2026-30 homeless housing plan calls for a 30-unit tiny home village and a 60-bed low-barrier shelter.
The central dispute now concerns what should happen first: enforcement at King Mountain or the creation of another sanctioned place where displaced residents can legally camp.
For Dorn and other nearby residents, another open-ended delay is not acceptable.
“If you believe the residents of the King Mountain neighborhood deserve the same right as everyone else to live in a safe, clean and secure community, please feel free to share this post,” Dorn said.
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