Item B: Homeless Camping-and attA-D

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ECC UGENE ITY OUNCIL AIS GENDA TEM UMMARY Work Session: Homeless Camping Meeting Date: February 24, 2010 Agenda Item Number: B Departments: Planning and Development/ Staff Contacts: Richie Weinman/ Police Captain Rich Stronach www.eugene-or.gov Contact Telephone Numbers: 541-682-5533/541-682-5252 ISSUE STATEMENT Eugene instituted a homeless camping program in 1998 after accepting recommendations from the Council Committee on Homelessness and Youth. The council has requested a review of the program. BACKGROUND Eugene has actively confronted homelessness issues since the end of World War Two. Homeless camping has been an active issue for the City Council and has been addressed throughout the City organization since the time a City Councilor chaired the Vagrancy Task Force in 1982 and 1983. The current program has three significant elements: 1) An ordinance allows camping on public or private property if particular conditions are met. In non-residential properties there is a maximum of three campers per location. The City of Eugene provides a limited number of legal spaces on City property. (See attachment “A”, E.C. 4.815.) 2) Police enforcement of on-street camping is typically responded to on a complaint basis. 3) The City contracts with St. Vincent dePaul (SVDP) to manage the City’s spaces, support other legal spaces, and to be the first responder to on-street camping complaints. They receive an annual allocation of $89,000 for a staff person to manage the spaces, the cost of portable rest rooms and garbage pick-up at legal camping locations. While the City’s program is innovative and is generally considered successful, it is at best a response to a large problem and not a solution. Some in the community argue that the police should be more aggressive at enforcing the camping laws. This is an approach that has been tried and the result was increased police time spent on this issue (at the expense of other enforcement needs), greater anger and stress on the streets among homeless people, and no greater success at reducing homelessness. Others in the community argue that Eugene criminalizes homelessness and people have no choices if they are to live. Homelessness is an uncomfortable community problem with no easy answers and many challenges. Complaints According to the 2009, annual count of homeless people, homelessness has continually increased each year. The number of people who are chronically homeless has grown from 16 percent of the local Z:\CMO\2010 Council Agendas\M100224\S100224B-and attA-D.doc