Mill Ponds is shown during heavy rain on Dec. 27. A homeless man was hospitalized after a water rescue.

SEASIDE — The city will move people out of a temporary homeless camp at Mill Ponds, which is susceptible to flooding, before the next king tides roll in this month.

Starting this week, people will be transferred to space on Avenue S near the city’s recycling center.

Under the city’s homeless camping program, an estimated 25 to 35 people are camping in tents and eight are in vehicles, according to Paul Knoch, the city’s community service officer.

City staff have been working to add a gravel base to the site on Avenue S as an anchor and are installing a water connection.

“That is the location with the least possible downsides,” City Manager Spencer Kyle said. “It is the best of terrible options, and I think we realize that this location is not ideal, but the ideal location does not exist.”

Last winter, a homeless man at Mill Ponds was rescued after being swept away in floodwaters. The incident illustrated the potential risk at Mill Ponds in heavy rains or rising tides.

At Avenue S, people will re-pitch their tents under a new set of rules approved by the City Council on Monday night aimed to decrease debris and increase safety. Large furniture is now prohibited, as are structures that are not tents, storage tents and wood and charcoal fires.

People will also be required to carry permits at the campsite or risk being removed. Each permit-holder will have a designated tent area. Last summer, Seaside saw a marked rise in visitors to the Mill Ponds camp, which, according to Knoch, often leads to increased crime.

Federal court rulings prevent cities from prohibiting homeless camping on public property when there is not adequate shelter space available. State law requires any restrictions on homeless camping to be objectively reasonable to people who are homeless.

“With the advice of the city attorney, as long as your rules are reasonable, then no, they don’t have a right to go somewhere else,” Kyle said. “So let’s say we have people who continue to violate these rules, they get warnings, and they get a suspension, let’s say for a couple weeks. They do not then have the legal right to be posted somewhere else in the city.

“But we think having such consequences is the only way to have a following of the actual rules. So I think that’s needed.”

Knoch expressed hope for the new Avenue S campsite and spoke to the benefits of people being able to stay in one place, citing collaborations with social services organizations and job opportunities.

“Because they’re in one location, the advocates that work with them, from CCA (Clatsop Community Action) to CBH (Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare) to Helping Hands, they know where to find them,” he explained. “They’re making multiple visits to get documents signed, they know exactly where to go … Some of our Mill Ponds camping participants have found employment, and they’re the folks that will serve you when you go to Safeway or to Grocery Outlet.

“I don’t have statistics, but there has been a significant decrease in illegal camping in natural areas and in downtown Seaside,” he added.

The city hopes to wrap up the move from Mill Ponds to Avenue S by Monday, as the next king tide is scheduled to come in five days later.

“I will welcome any resident or benefactor of Seaside that can come up with a better piece of land that they want to give to us,” Mayor Steve Wright said. “Give us a really good price, we’re more than willing to work with you. So keep that in mind, everybody out there.

“I think this is the best solution right now. And, you know, we’ve tried our hardest to get it done by the king tides, and it looks like we’ll get it done.”