Last Friday, the University Christian Church filed for a temporary land-use permit in response to the city of Seattle’s complaints about the Nickelsville homeless encampments located in the church’s parking lot. The city issued the church a land-use violation Oct. 16, giving the church until Oct. 31 to correct its violation.

“An encampment is not a permitted use within the city of Seattle,” said Bob Scales, senior policy analyst for the City of Seattle.

He also said the church is required to have a certain number of “accessory units” in order to operate and they are in violation of that requirement because most parking spaces are used by campers.

The church requested the city extend its deadline of compliance to Nov. 30. The request has not yet been processed and fines have started to accrue.

“It’s my regret that our correspondence with the city has been procedural,” said Janetta Cravens Boyd, senior pastor of University Christian Church. Boyd believes fighting homelessness will take collaboration with the city as well as other advocacy agencies.

The name “Nickelsville” is meant to poke at Mayor Greg Nickels’ citywide sweeping of homeless camps in a proposed effort to “clean up” Seattle. Nickels voiced park safety and public health concerns regarding homeless camps typically found under freeways, bridges and on the streets of Seattle.

“What about the public health concern of the 36 people who have died on the streets so far this year?” said Aaron Beaucage, a writer and resident of Nickelsville. “And what about the health concern that being homeless may cause mental illness?”

Beaucage studied philosophy and creative writing in London before returning to the U.S. Since then, he has taken jobs in construction, fishing and truck driving before emptying his savings to send his girlfriend and child to live a “better life” in Indonesia.

“People visit Nickelsville and say, ‘Hey, these people are the same as me, in a difficult time’ and the stigma goes away,” Beaucage said.

Scales said the city is willing to help the church convert its space into a shelter, which, he said, has enough space for 200 people. However, the city would not provide funding for this effort.

“They’re talking about using all of our space, which means that in order to invite these new neighbors into our building, we would have to displace other people,” Cravens Boyd said. “There would never be another wedding reception in our church if that ever happens.”

Nickelsville is home to roughly 80 people, who live in tents in the church parking lot on 50th Avenue Northeas and Northeast 15th Street. They abide by simple rules such as respect, sobriety and no violence.

The Nickelsville tents allow the homeless to create a community for physical safety as well as emotional support. The projected goal of Nickelsville is to have a permanent location where the homeless can build a shantytown, emphasizing safe and sanitary conditions.

Many of the residents are in between jobs or going through tough times — some are fishermen, truck drivers, veterans from the military or people with health problems that drove them into financial crisis.

Some can’t work because they don’t have identification, Beaucage said. The process to obtain identification costs money and requires documentation that many have lost or had stolen.

Nickelsville has taken residence in several temporary locations around Seattle since it was created in September. If the church is forced to ask Nickelsville to leave, there is no indication of where the encampment will go next.

“We’d like to give our neighbors a long time for being able to know when they need to go by,” Cravens Boyd said. “It’s respectful.”

Reach reporter Emily Lee at news@dailyuw.com.