Bend city councilors discuss clearer rules to limit vehicle camping on city streets, similar to tent camping code

No one has been cited or had vehicles towed, deputy police chief says; Watt Way may see some soon

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Bend city councilors dove into the controversial issue of the homeless whose vehicles are parked on many streets Wednesday evening as staff outlined efforts to flesh out and more closely align vehicle camping rules with those enacted earlier to limit tent camping along city rights of way.

Of the roughly 5,000 calls police get each year regarding vehicles, about one-third are complaints that people are living in their RVs or cars along city streets, Deputy Police Chief Paul Kansky told councilors at a work session.

Since the clearing last year of the Hunnell Road encampment, one new focus spot has been NE Watt Way, where several people living in RVs or other vehicles recently received 72 hours’ notice to move due to health and safety issues, after months of complaints by nearby residents and businesses.

 “We have not issued one citation since implementation” of the camping code, Kansky said, as the goal is always for voluntary compliance and not just moving people but work with them and connect them to services.

“We haven’t towed anyone,” he added, as people have moved on as requested. He said a couple of the people living with vehicles along Watt Way have asked for ADA accommodation and “some folks are working diligently to comply this week. We do have the potential for a couple of tows later this week, if they are unable to comply.”

While the city does have a secured storage facility arranged for any vehicles moved out, Kansky also assured councilors they have no intention to charge a large fee to retrieve the vehicles, “like any personal property.”

While drafting such rules can be a sticky balancing act, the issue of enforcement can be even more problematic, prompting City Councilor Barb Campbell to say at one point during the work session that it was “weird” to hear Assistant City Attorney Ian Leitheiser talk about how even after new rules are in place – how long allowed in one space, how far they must move, etc. – that it won’t be immediately, firmly and universally enforced.

“It just kind of blows my mind,” Campbell said, to hear a city attorney speak of having an ordinance and not enforce it, that “we can pass something and not have it work as it is laid out on paper.”

The tricky details involve defining vehicle camping or sheltering, with Leitheiser saying they likely will make “some attempt to carve out the ability for people to sleep in their cars. ,,, If you can read a book for four hours in your car, why not sleep?”

How far a vehicle must be moved is one of many details councilors will discuss further, after staff does more work. “It needs to be enough to make a difference,” Leitheiser said. “Around a corner is not enough – miles and miles is probably too much.”

Campbell’s suggestion of another roundtable process with stakeholders, like was done before enacting the original camping code, didn’t draw colleagues’ support. Councilor Megan Perkins said the service providers she’s talked to said this spelling out of vehicle sheltering rules makes sense, to align with the tent camping rules.

But Campbell drew disagreement when she said those who have to move or follow more rules will just move to Juniper Ridge, China Hat or Phil’s Trail: “They can always move out into the forest.”

Pointing to efforts to create more safe parking and create more shelter beds and managed camping, Mayor Melanie Kebler said, “I don’t think it’s accurate to say we’re telling people to go camping in the woods.”

Leitheiser said under the planned changes, there will still “be substantial right of way in the city to engage in vehicle habitation under our code.” If someone is required to move, they still must be given 72 hours notice to do so, beyond the proposed 24-hour maximum, if they extend the tent camping regulations to vehicles.

The city attorney also said they will continue to prioritize health and safety issues, as they “don’t have the practical ability or intent” to move every vehicle that parks for more than a day on the street. Staff also said they want to craft buffer rules that are not based on zoning, but proximity to residences.

“The city wants to be able to assess and make choices when it makes sense, based on all the factors,” he said.

But Campbell wasn’t convinced, saying the proposed rules are "more cruel." And when it came time for a nod of heads on staff bringing back more fleshed out details for review on Sept. 18, she was opposed.

The challenges of resolving homelessness issues came back into view a short while later, during the citizens’ comment section of a light late-August agenda.

Jessica Gamble, executive director of the Home More Network, said the organization represents the voice of unhoused neighbors, having spent 2 ½ years living in a Subaru Forester, like many residents who live in dilapidated vehicles.

She asked the city not to move the people living along Watt Way, “many already in survival mode.”

Another commenter, “Smokey,” has lived in Bend for 37 years, and was more blunt.

“We don’t need more rules. We need more housing,” he said, calling for rent caps to stop more people being priced out of their homes.

“Shelters are a joke,” he said. “If you sneeze the wrong way, you’re out. … Get out of the city – you’re ruining it,” he told councilors.

Foster Fell also called for the city not to sweep people from Watt Way, saying it’s clear the rules are being selectively enforced.

“There’s simply no place for them to go, other than back further into the forest and the wildlands, losing their connections to service and caregivers,” Fell said. “Please pause and wait until there’s safe places to go for our neighbors.”

There was far less time spent on one other issue, as councilors agreed without debate to endorse a citizen-created Nov. 5 ballot measure to expand the Deschutes County Commission from three to five members. Kebler said she supports the measure to update county government “into modern times” from a system created a century ago.

Here's the vehicle camping discussion document city staff provided to councilors Wednesday night: