BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – A judge has ordered the owner of a notorious former encampment to pay up for cleanup costs.
My Bellingham Now previously reported that property owner Li-Ching Fang of Taiwan was ordered last September to clear the encampments behind the Walmart in Bellingham.
In August, the city provided the court with an update on their efforts to clear the 20-acre area.
Sean O’Neill with the city’s Public Works Department says that they installed a perimeter fence bordering a nearby apartment complex and removed over 17 tons of waste late last year. Additional fencing and waste removal is now in its planning phase.
The city argued that Fang hasn’t made an effort to coordinate any of the cleanup herself, nor has she made any payment for $125,000 in services completed by the city.
In response, Fang claimed that people were cutting the newly installed fences and trespassing, and that the city should be responsible for keeping homeless people off of her property.
A judge ruled in late August that there was no legal reason to put that responsibility on the city and ordered her to pay the initial abatement costs.
