Roseburg has previously considered and rejected multiple sites for an urban campground, including canceling a deal to buy property meant for that purpose.
At a Monday City Council meeting, staff estimated the city is currently spending about $114,000 a month on homelessness-related resources, which includes law enforcement and public works.
Councilor Zack Weiss said even doing nothing has a price.
"This is costing us, whether it's costing us the money or it's costing us the resources that are dedicated to the community," he said. "It is costing us one way or another."
The two proposed sites are right down the block from each other. The so-called Phillips Lot is at 840 SE Stephens St., and the Shalimar Lot is at 734 SE Stephens St.
Phillips is about .38 acres and contains 45 parking spaces. Shalimar is about .2 acres and has 19 parking spaces. The former has access to water service, while the latter has water service available.
If the lots were converted to urban campgrounds, the city would lose out on $80 a month in revenue.
Councilors had questions about the potential timeline, site operator and cost, as well as how many tents might fit on each site.
No decisions were made at the meeting. Staff will bring back more details about the two city-owned lots in the future for further discussion.
During public comment, Jim Brown expressed concern about concentrating the two urban campgrounds on the south end of town.
"The quality of life is deteriorating, so it needs to be shared around," he said. "Let's start putting some in some other areas, if you want to do it."
The two sites are near Deer Creek Park, the city's most prominent example of unmanaged homeless camping.
Councilor Ellen Porter said the city needs to take some sort of action.
"I would like to see us do anything to take an interim step to do something. Every option that has come to this council has been declined," she said. "We have gone absolutely nowhere and spent tons and tons of time."
One issue with the current proposed lots is Umpqua Community College is relying on that parking for a planned housing development.
"We will not move forward if this is the city's plan," UCC President Rachel Pokrandt said at the meeting. "I have to make sure that we invest in projects that we know we can sustain. And if we have a project where we're concerned that people aren't going to want to live, we will not have a business model for this housing."
Mayor Larry Rich seemed to support UCC's use of the lots, saying the housing project is "going to help our downtown area."
"They're going to need parking," he said. "I don't want to see us lose that."
