Homeless shelter poses difficulties for neighbors

Kelly Kenoyer

While the homeless encampment at the Church of Nazarene provides a welcome respite and some stability for its inhabitants, it also causes some problems for nearby businesses and can be a bit of an eyesore for those coming into town from Highway 228.

That impromptu shelter was the subject of a City Council work session last week, attended by Mayor Greg Mahler and Councilors Diane Gerson, Susan Coleman, Dave Trask, James Goble, and Lisa Gourley, with Cortney Nash absent.

The Dec. 1 meeting started with some legal discussion about recent rulings that apply to the unhoused. According to a 2018 circuit court ruling against the city of Boise, Idaho, it is unconstitutional to punish homeless persons for sleeping, lying or sitting in a public place in the absence of alternatives.

A federal case in Grants Pass this year went further. That case involved a camping ordinance that was being applied to homeless people who used blankets or kept possessions near them as they slept. The judge in the case ruled that the broad application of the city ordinance was unconstitutional because it violated the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause of the Eighth Amendment.

Sweet Home City Attorney Rob Snyder said the two rulings leave the city with two options: “It must allow sufficient shelter for the homeless, or it must allow anyone to sleep, lie or sit on public property.”

That means the police in Sweet Home can’t force anyone to go anywhere, although officers can suggest that the unhoused seek shelter at the Church of Nazarene. It’s still unclear from these court rulings whether the shelter on private property qualifies as sufficient shelter, and whether that allows the police to enforce ordinances in Sweet Home.

“Both the Boise ruling and the Grants Pass ruling have changed how we have interacted with the homeless and the amount of influence we can have over where they sleep, sit and lie,” said Police Chief Jeff Lynn. “If there’s an opportunity for a place to exist within our community so they can congregate at night, especially, it would give us a little more latitude in enforcing ordinances.”

Ordinances related to resting on public property are actually unenforceable if there isn’t a safe location within the community to send the homeless to, said Community and Economic Development Director Blair Larsen. He said a lot of members of the public misunderstand the legal position the city is in.

“If you had an encampment like this that was in the public parking lot between the library and the old city hall, under these rules we would not be able to move anybody who decided to shelter there,” he said. “We don’t have the right to just tell people to move on. If they have no where to go, they have a right to be there.”

The church has filled the gap of a safe location for an encampment, which allows the police to suggest the homeless follow these ordinances. But it has also led to some complaints from area residents.

Pastor Bethanie Young said it was never her intention for this encampment to grow to its current size or become so semi-permanent. The arrangement began when COVID forced the church to close its warming center early in March.

That night, Young said, “a couple of the homeless that were seeking shelter asked to stay under the overhang of our church.” After that, they just stuck around, and more eventually joined.

Having that centralized location had unexpected benefits for the homeless, as the Street Ministry, Linn County Health, and other service providers can go to one place to help their clients.

A couple of those who have stayed at the church have since found housing.

“It’s evolved into this bigger project,” Young said. “We’re working with four of them to get them into transitional housing and their services in place.”

At the same time, outdoor shelter is really the only option because of COVID. Restrictions and spacing requirements mean there’s only enough space for five people to shelter within the church, but there are 15 in need of that kind of shelter.

“We’ve got to keep them warm and dry through this weather,” Young said. That’s why organizers came up with a plan for “an arctic camp, where we’re creating a platform and tent and barrier to keep them warm throughout winter.”

More than 20 Rotary Club members and other volunteers built plywood platforms in November to keep tents off the ground. Those have not yet been implemented because of delays due to insurance, Young said.

But it’s not all sunshine and roses. Beth Lambert, a State Farm Insurance agent whose office adjoins the church property, said she doesn’t want to be a “wet blanket,” but her business is at risk. The State Farm building is situated right next to the encampment.

“These are not rule-followers,” Lambert said. “They show up, looking in my windows. They are disrupting my business, and my renter’s business at the beauty shop.”

She commended Young and Community Services Officer Sean Morgan for their efforts with the homeless, but said she’s worried about “the devaluing of my property and the effects on my business.”

Lambert also said it might be a liability for the city to allow one property to break ordinances around camping, especially if someone is injured or dies there.

“This is not public property; this is private property and it’s in my backyard,” she said. “This is affecting my business, and someone needs to care about that.”

At the same time, Larsen said, “What is a detriment to one business is actually a boon to other businesses because it has changed the movement of people.”

“There is a large economic benefit in having a place for someone to go because it means we can enforce the requirements for cleaning up downtown,” he said. “I see a lot of value to having a location that is set aside where special rules apply to handle this issue.”

He said it’s legal for private institutions or nonprofits to build an apartment complex or something similar to provide shelter. Alternately, the city could create ordinances that allow camping on specific lots, though he suggested it be somewhere more concealed than the Church of Nazarene.

Councilor James Goble said it’s been clear for years that the business community and residents don’t want a shelter or camp.

Mayor Greg Mahler said it wasn’t a goal for the council to start a homeless shelter — that’s something council members have historically opposed. However, he suggested it could be a community effort to place a shelter somewhere farther away from downtown.

“One person brought up the idea of the empty church on Long Street,” Mahler said, referring to the old Bethel Lutheran Church property, which is now for sale. “I don’t know if that’s an option or not.”

It’s unclear how that location would be seen, legally speaking. It is a bit far from grocery stores compared to the current location for the camp, and access to amenities is a noted part of the legal ruling.

“I think people get so caught up in the label of homelessness, they forget that hey, these are people,” Larsen said. “They have a right to move around. Just because you put a shelter someplace doesn’t mean you can force people to go to a shelter.”

He added that the city probably wouldn’t go wrong if the community, in good faith, did its best to shelter the unhoused in that location and provide for their needs within that location.

Mahler also suggested having other churches in town contribute, perhaps by having each church take in or sponsor one homeless person and help them with transportation and other needs.

Said Goble: “The thing that bothers me is that we’re taking a warming shelter and it’s just migrating right in front of us into a homeless camp. But we have to help all community members, whether it’s homeless people or people with homes.”

Other councilors pointed out that the camp is an eye sore.

“When you’re coming down towards Highway 20, that’s the first thing you see. And that bothers me,” Trask said. “You don’t see that on the main street in Lebanon.”

Coleman agreed. “It is kind of an eyesore for our community, but it would also be bad for our community if someone died sleeping outside within Sweet Home city limits.”

“Is there something we can do for here and now, and then develop a long-term solution?” she asked.

City Manager Ray Towry said if the city were to be involved, it would need some kind of insurance. However, the city’s current involvement is limited to having Morgan connect individuals to resources, and it has otherwise been uninvolved in the encampment and its planned improvements.

Gourley suggested adding a fence around the encampment, and was told a temporary fence has already gone up to block off the area near Lambert’s property.

Young suggested coming up with a couple different plans: the short-term and the long-term.

“We were working on the crisis of cold weather first,” she said, noting she hopes to make use of recently constructed platforms to that end.

After that, the One Shelter project is planning to move towards a more permanent solution, and is doing research on “microshelters” or using a “hub” strategy to manage the homeless population and help get access to services.

“We’re trying to eliminate them being around businesses and causing stress within that community,” Young said. “What’s happening right now is not the direction we wanted to go.”

Still, COVID poses a serious challenge. “We can’t just call in 90 volunteers to watch these people in a building.”

For ordinances to be enforceable, there has to be a legal place for those without housing to be, Towry said, and it has to be somewhere accessible.

“It can’t be on the fringe. They still need to be able to get amenities that they need,” he said. “We’re trying to strike this balance of being supportive but not really taking the reins.”

Lambert chimed in again and said drug dealers often come to the camp and break rules as well. “The city condoning this is going to mean it assumes some liability if something happens over there,” she said.

Lynn told her she can trespass people from her property, but Lambert said she fears retaliation.

Another community member, Rotary Member Larry Horton, spoke on behalf of those staying on the property, pointing out that winter and cold weather are here and pose a danger.

“It’s cold. It’s freezing. Every day I get up and the water troughs for my animals are frozen. And every day I wonder about those poor people living over there and how we can help them.” he asked. “The advantage [of the Church of Nazarene] is that there’s a shower there, a laundry there, and a little bit of comradery between them.”

Horton was one of dozens of volunteers who helped build the platforms for the homeless to place their tents on, and he said he wanted to see them put up now to protect them from cold and frostbite.

“In the past our community has always worked together to come up with solutions,” he said. “It’s time to make it happen, whether it’s a camp somewhere or a building somewhere.”

Larsen said he has a lot of hope that the community can come to a solution, with the help of volunteers and organizations.

“Anyone who has concerns or has suggestions, I really want to talk to them and have that conversation,” he said.

“They are welcome to call me or email me, however they want to connect. This is not a problem that is going to be solved by just me working on it or just the city working on it, it’s going to be the whole community coming together.”

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