Advocates for the homeless say they don't expect a proliferation of tent encampments now that the Seattle City Council has voted to allow religious organizations to host tent cities without a permit and without a limit on the number citywide.

"There's still not a bunch of congregations rushing to do this, but it does expand the ways the unsheltered in the city are cared for," said the Rev. Bill Kirlin-Hackett, director of the Interfaith Task Force on Homelessness.

The City Council unanimously approved an ordinance Monday that makes encampments a legal accessory use to a religious facility. That means churches, mosques, temples and other faith-based organizations can provide temporary shelter on their property, subject to basic health and safety rules and a limit of 100 people per encampment.

Currently there are two tent encampments in Seattle, Tent City 3 and Nickelsville.

Under the new ordinance, religious organizations don't have to notify neighbors and there is no limit on how long an encampment may stay in one place.

Councilmember Nick Licata, who sponsored the legislation, said that with the city's homeless shelters filled to capacity, tent encampments represent "one solution."

The new law also responds to court rulings and a 2010 state law that says cities can't impose undue burdens on religious organizations that want to serve homeless people as part of their mission.

But some homeless advocates and residents of Tent City 3 opposed the legislation because the easier rules apply only to churches, not secular groups and private landowners, which have to apply for a temporary-use permit to host an encampment.

"Don't go out of your way to limit secular landowners who want to help us," Paul Marshall, a Tent City 3 resident, told the City Council before Monday's vote.

Under a 2002 court-ordered agreement between the city and Share/Wheel, a nonprofit that organizes Tent City 3, nonprofits and private landowners that host Tent City 3 currently do not have to obtain a permit but must notify the city, said Bob Scales, government-affairs section director for the Seattle city attorney. That agreement expires in March.

Lynn Thompson: 206-464-8305 or lthompson@seattletimes.com