Mayor Wheeler's Office Considers Banning Homeless Camping Downtown

Mayor Ted Wheeler's office has been discussing a strategy to ban homeless camping from areas of downtown Portland—and to move those campers into a "high-population outdoor camping zone." The plan, which has been largely discussed in closed-door conversations with city staff, has drawn alarm from homeless advocates and politicians alike.

"I believe that the creation of these zones would quickly lead to extremely detrimental outcomes for people experiencing houselessness," wrote City Commissioner Dan Ryan to Wheeler in an October 7 email. "These are our most vulnerable community members, and requiring them to move out of certain parts of the city and into large encampments with little to no social services is a recipe for disaster."

Ryan is the commissioner assigned to oversee the Portland Housing Bureau and the Joint Office of Homeless Services (JOHS).

Neither Wheeler nor Ryan shared details of this strategy with the Mercury, but Ryan's email offers several hints. With the subject line reading, "My position on Villages beyond 60, Hard NO," it's clear that the message is in response to an earlier proposal to create a mass outdoor shelter (or village) for homeless Portlanders. City zoning codes currently disallow for any outdoor shelters to house more than 60 individual sleeping shelters. Ryan notes that a June City Council vote clarified that any large homeless encampments would be considered "high impact" by the city department that analyzes and removes homeless camps on public land based on their impact to the surrounding environment.

Read more: https://www.portlandmercury.com/blogtown/2021/10/19/36639751/mayor-wheelers-office-considers-banning-homeless-camping-downtown