PHOENIX — The City of Phoenix is moving forward with a structured outdoor campground to address the city's homeless crisis - but the plan comes with a lot of controversy.
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.
Vice Mayor Yassamin Ansari was the only council member to vote against the measure.
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.
"It also very much puts an undue burden on people experiencing homelessness to have to come to one area of the city to get services, and the surrounding businesses, the neighbors, all of the surrounding communities, I think I feel like they have done their part," Ansari said in a phone interview with 12News Thursday. "I also am disappointed that we are not leading with indoor air conditioning, shelter and services. I think our extreme heat is far too dangerous for people to be living outdoors."
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.
"Homelessness is not an issue that's unique to District 7, it's not unique to Phoenix," Ansari said. "We need regional solutions. We need other cities to step up and build their own shelters and provide services in their cities and not rely on Phoenix."
This concept of a structured campground is something Phoenix 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.
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 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.
"It's devastating," Ansari said. "Even though I think District 7 has done more than enough and other districts need to step up."
