By LEAH WEATHERSBY

Lake City has new neighbors.

They aren't new apartment dwellers drawn by the neighborhood's recent building boom, though no doubt many wish they were. They are men and women who populate Tent City 3, a roving settlement of tents which at any given time house up to 100 members of the Seattle area's homeless population.

On May 12, the tents were pitched on the grounds of Lake City Christian Church, the group that invited Tent City into the neighborhood.

Founded over a year ago, Tent City 3 is the third such encampment Seattle has seen since 1990. For the last 13 months, the group has stayed at locations all over the city including churches in Ballard, Northgate and Crown Hill. Residents of Tent City, who by some estimates live there less than two months on average, say there are several advantages to the arrangement.

First, unlike at many homeless shelters, Tent City residents have 24-hour access to their bed and belongings. Also, while many shelters will accept only men or women, Tent City allows couples to stay together.

According to Tent City's fact sheets, security at the encampments is tight and the rules are strict. Two security guards (Tent City residents) are on duty at all times. No drugs, no alcohol, weapons, violence, or degrading words are allowed.

Testimony from former Tent City hosts suggests that those standards are met.

Rev. Richard Lang of Trinity United Methodist Church in Ballard said they received many complaints from neighbors when they decided to host Tent City, but the criticisms were not about conduct.

"The complaints were about the existence of Tent City in their neighborhood. There were no behavioral complaints," Lang said.

Judy Schultz, pastor at Crown Hill United Methodist Church, which hosted Tent City three different times, agreed.

"It's an absolutely clean and sober place," said Schultz. "The parking lot and church were safer when they were here. They have a strict code of conduct and someone is monitoring it the whole time."

Schultz said her church received only one complaint about Tent City from a neighbor and many nearby residents brought over food and other donations.

At a community meeting on May 8, just a few days before Tent City was scheduled to arrive, reaction to Lake City Christian's plan was mixed. Several nearby residents, wondered why the church hadn't consulted their neighbors before making the decision.

"I live across the street," one woman said. "I'm scared to death."

However Lake City Christian Co-Pastor Dalene Vasbinder said that over 90 percent of Lake City Christian's congregation had approved the plan to host Tent City and the church felt it was something they had to do.

"With all the land we have here we just felt we could not say no to this," Vasbinder said.

A benefit concert for Tent City 3 will be presented by the Mission for Music and Healing at the Lake City Community Center on Saturday, June 30. Reggae band Straight Ahead will perform along with other musicians. Admission will be on a pay-what-you-can, donation basis. For more information, including the start time of the event, call 368-9653, ext. 3. (