Overlook Neighborhood Association Holds Emergency Meeting Regarding Homelessness

Friday, December 18, 2015

Brendan Murray, GoLocalPDX Contributor

In response to concerns regarding newly formed homeless camps in the area, the Overlook Neighborhood Association held an emergency meeting on Wednesday evening. According to an ONA board member, the board voted to ask the city for help dealing with the camp.

Roughly 75 people attended the meeting, including representatives of Hazelnut Grove, a nearby homeless village. Those representatives, along with roughly two dozen residents, testified to the ONA regarding current state of homelessness in the area.

“About 75 people attended the meeting last night,” Chris Trejbal, a ONA board member, told GoLocal. “The Overlook Neighborhood Association Board heard from a couple of representatives of Hazelnut Grove and about two dozen neighborhood residents. They provided thoughtful, compassionate ideas about how the neighborhood association should respond to the current city plans for the homeless campers.”

After the testimony the board discussed and voted on a pair of steps to take.

“We will send a letter to the city reiterating our opposition to allowing the camp to exist on a site that is unhealthy and unsafe,” Trejbal said. “If, over the neighborhood's objection, the city chooses to issue a permit for the camp, we request that it include provisions that will address concerns raised by neighbors and will improve health and safety for all.”

As part of this step, the ONA will ask that the camp have a hard cap of 30 members, that campers be required to register under their legal name as residents so that the city and neighbors can verify there are not registered sex offenders or individuals with a history of violent crime camping on a site in close proximity to a public park where children play and that a firm deadline be established by which the camp will shut down no later than the expiration of the emergency declaration in October 2016. The mayor's office has repeatedly stated that this is a temporary, short-term solution. It's time to define what that means.

The ONA is also lawyering up for a potential fight with the City of Portland.

“We will consult with an attorney regarding our legal options to address the city's plans through litigation if necessary,” Trejbal said. “We remain deeply disappointed that the city has refused to engage with us in any meaningful way and regret that legal action seems to be the only course forward to have our concerns addressed by the city.”