The Bend City Council set guidelines for a managed houseless camp at its regular meeting Nov. 3. The City is attempting to fast track the process, hoping to have an operating camp established by winter to shelter the growing houseless population.
The City is exploring eight different sites, but the most expedient option is to build on one of two City-owned properties. A proposed Ninth Street site faced extreme pushback from neighbors and teachers concerned about its proximity to an elementary and high school. Another site on Juniper Ridge is also under consideration, though it is also controversial among nearby homeowners and businesses. The request for proposals to service providers was intentionally vague enough that service providers could give site-specific plans and different managed camp models.
“We have a variety of sites that we continue to explore, and what we’re hoping to do, our plan here for the RFP is that when an operator proposes they’re going to tell us what the layout might be, do they want to do a safe parking site, do they want to do a Central Oregon Vets Village model, what are they thinking and what support do they need from us and also how are they going to talk to the community around that site,” Carolyn Eagan said.
Service providers are expected to refine their plans based on site characteristics and community input. Though there will be some flexibility, they have to meet some benchmarks. Camps have to include facilities and amenities including restrooms, showers, food service and trash removal, support services like crisis planning, case management services and coordination with permanent housing resources, and there must also be a comprehensive plan including a safety assessment, screening processes and criteria for expulsing tenants.
Other services may come into play if a service provider is working with a specific population. That could mean employment services for unaccompanied houseless youths, behavioral health services for campers experiencing mental health crises and substance abuse treatment for people experiencing a drug or alcohol addiction.
“You can see the list of other services that might be part of a proposal, but we weren’t feeling like we needed to require from every operator, because every operator may be choosing to work with a different population or have a different layout for how they expect their site to go,” Eagan said.
The urgency to create a camp comes as the unmanaged camp on Hunnel Road grows, gaining campers after ODOT and the Bend Police Department removed campsites adjacent to Colorado Avenue and Revere Parkway in October. The City served notice of a cleanup to the Hunnel Road residents on Oct. 28 to ensure the street can be snow plowed. Ninety residents and seventy vehicles inhabit the short street, according to service providers who attended the recent City Council meeting.
“When people say why are you moving so fast, why are you trying to do so many things, this is why, because what we have on Hunnel Road right now is unacceptable to everybody,” Bend City Councilor Megan Perkins said. “This is no way to live and that is why we need managed safe camping in our community.”
Bend City Council singled out an acre in Juniper Ridge called Crusher Site 2 as a centralized hub for service providers to easily access campers living in Juniper Ridge, and potentially create another safe parking site there as well.
“It seems like this site is really ideal,” Bend City Councilor Gena Goodman-Campbell said. “It’s a really large site, and so the size of it alone and how it’s been flattened and cleared is conducive to having people come in and safely park and camp in that area and mitigate the concerns we’ve had in the past with things like fire danger.”
There’s no definitive timeline for when the first camp will open; it will depend on how quickly service providers can satisfy the criteria set by the City.
This article appears in Nov 10-17, 2021.
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Not sure how this site is better than the one downtown. Still uncomfortably close to an elementary and middle school. There is a nice old rock pit area to the west of Inn of the Seventh mountain. Few homes and no schools…how about that spot? To close to the city councilors on the west side I am guessing.
The problem isn’t just going away. Something has to be done regarding the mental health aspect and addictions. A LARGE number of these people move to where they can panhandle the most money AND where it has the most permissive environment. There has to be a reason, besides complete insanity, why a homeless person would move to one of the most expensive zip codes in the country. The answer, at least in California, is decriminalization of many crimes, ability to do drugs and drink in public with no reprisals, ability to panhandle for drug money anywhere in the city, etc. If public camping is encouraged, you will have your homeless population explode in no time because it is lucrative for them to move to your area. Many California cities are getting utterly trashed with no backlash on the people littering everywhere! If a taxpayer is caught doing this, the fine is enormous. Rolling out services and prohibiting behaviors is the answer, not feeling sorry for people breaking the law on a daily basis. Leaders must take care of those busting their butts working before allowing homeless to squat in front of their businesses and ruin them. No taxpayer, no programs to fight homelessness. And, yes! I do feel the pain of the person who worked for years to own a house that is appreciating in value, or owns a business that took years to build, who doesn’t want vagrants accosting customers, or defecating on their lawns. They also shouldn’t have squatters ruin their property values because callous city councilmembers allow vagrants to pile trash around taxpayers’ homes. This is a two-way street. If you want to do something about homelessness, you have to support your taxpayers first. Releasing funds for psych/rehab and tough love are the ONLY ways that this ends well. Also, people who made better life choices have the right to reap the rewards without being vilified for ‘selfishness.’