The Grants Pass City Council approved two more homeless campsites on Wednesday night in an effort to get a court order lifted.
The court ordered Grants Pass to increase its designated campsites to the same capacity it offered before the city closed a location in January, when capacity was estimated to be 150 tents. The order is part of a lawsuit claiming the city’s treatment of homeless people violates Oregon state law.
Councilors previously considered a variety of locations. The police chief recommended that all four sites not be near each other.
Still, councilors voted 6-2 to approve the new sites, which are both parking lots adjacent to a current campsite.
Councilor Indra Nicholas voted against the new sites and said she’d rather split up the sites evenly among the four wards.
“I would rather see 40, 40, 40, 40, split up in each ward, just to make it fair for everyone in our community,” she said. “So I don’t think it’s right to just put them all in one.”
Some neighbors expressed concerns about drug use and crime at the sites.
Kate Huckert said she lives and works across the street from the campsites and said she’s seen drug deals and violent outbursts.
“Now I have 150 proposed unstable people that are going to be feet from my bedroom and my child’s bedroom and my clients,” she said. “I need some safety. Can you guarantee my safety?”
Councilors assured residents the situation would be temporary.
“This isn’t fair all the way around,” said Councilor Kathleen Krohn. “This isn’t fair for the city at all. It’sn’t fair that we’re being targeted here for this huge problem. And nobody wants it in their backyard. This is a tough decision.”
Grants Pass only recently got out from under another court injunction, which lasted for four years. It was part of a different lawsuit over Grants Pass’s treatment of homeless people, which the U.S. Supreme Court decided in the city’s favor.
The city will provide restrooms, trash service and fencing at both of the new sites, as it does at its current campsites.
City hall employees currently use one site for parking. It will transition to a resting site on April 23, City Manager Aaron Cubic said in an email.
The other is used by the addiction treatment center OnTrack, which is relocating.
“We have to provide access to that building until they’re totally out,” Cubic said at a previous meeting. As a result, that site will take longer to be ready for people to move in, with no date set yet.
To get the court order repealed, the city must also ensure all sites “provide accessible routes and surfaces” for people with disabilities.
In the meantime, the order stipulates that the city cannot enforce its public camping laws, except at Riverside Park and Reinhardt Volunteer Park.
