PHOENIX — The City of Phoenix is moving forward with a plan that would ultimately create a new space for unsheltered people to camp.
The city council approved the next step in the plan Wednesday, raising a lot of questions about what this means for the city's homeless population and neighborhoods impacted by the crisis.
The city is calling this a “safe outdoor space," but also referred to it as a structured campground during the council hearing.
Phoenix is ultimately planning to buy the lot at 1537 West Jackson Street, near the corner of 15th Avenue and Jackson. Right now, it's a gated property with a warehouse building that's owned by the state.
It’s a few blocks from the city’s largest homeless encampment, known as '"The Zone," and even closer to the State Capitol, which you can clearly see from the Jackson Street property.
The idea is to have AC in the building for a cooling area throughout the day, but people will be allowed to camp on the property, rather than stay on the streets. It's unclear at this time if people can sleep in the air conditioning at night.
City staff said it will have 24/7 security at the site and there will be rules and a code of conduct people will have to follow. They also plan to bring in mobile showers and bathrooms on-site.
About 10 members of the public spoke out against this, some who currently or have recently stayed in The Zone. One man called it a "lateral move" that just pushes problems down the block.
Another woman asked how the council could vote on the issue when there hadn't been any sort of public plan presented prior to the council meeting.
Some of the details for outdoor space came to light during the meeting, where Deputy City Manager Gina Montes and Rachel Milne, director of the Office of Homeless Solutions, fielded questions about the site.
This concept of a structured campground is something city staff previously said over and over again in court they didn’t want to do, with the priority to provide real indoor shelter space. But they’re ultimately making this move to comply with a judge’s court order to clean up the zone.
"At this point, this is one of those options that we think is very important, we really need, in order to comply with our court order," Montes told the council. "And to also be able to help people who are already outside, who are in the heat right now who are in vulnerable situations to be in a safer space."
The court order stems from a lawsuit filed by downtown residents last year over conditions in The Zone. A trial is scheduled for July where the judge said he expects to see the city’s progress, although the city is appealing the ruling.
The council voted 8-1 on the agenda item, which allows the city to move forward with a permit to start the process of getting the property from the state.
Vice Mayor Yassamin Ansari was the only member to vote against the measure after raising concerns over the location of the site. She said she'd hope the city would look to expand services beyond the downtown encampment area, rather than concentrate all the resources near The Zone, which is part of her District 7.
The city also discussed plans to continue getting more shelter beds online throughout the next year. Staff also detailed a setback on a previously approved plan for a shelter structure that would have brought in 280 beds near 22nd Avenue and Lower Buckeye Road.
City staff and council members revealed that there were environmental issues with the site and that they'd have to look for alternate locations.
As of the last count from the Human Services Campus, there are more than 900 people on the streets in and around The Zone.
The city wasn’t clear on how many people could stay at this new site but said hundreds could stay in the lot and more than 100 people could fit inside the building. County records indicate the warehouse building on the property has a capacity for more than 300 people.