City of Bend indefinitely postpones planned March 16 clearing of Hunnell Road camps

County says doesn't need to happen for road project; won't happen until south-end camp opens

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The city of Bend is postponing the planned March 16 start of removing the Hunnell Road homeless encampment, as the city and Deschutes County have begun the process of creating a managed camp on the south end of town and the county says the camps don't need to be removed for a road project to begin.

Here's the full statement given at Wednesday evening's city council meeting by City Manager Eric King, which proceeded the visitors section in which numerous critics of the planned south-end "supported camp" sharply criticized councilors and the city for their handling of the homeless issue.

NewsChannel 21's Kelsey McGee is following up with city leaders and reaching out to the critics for a report Thursday evening at 5:

Because of a change in plans by the Deschutes County Road Department and a commitment made Monday by the Deschutes County Commissioners to establish a site for people to go, the City made the decision today to postpone the planned complete removal of camps in the Hunnell Road area.

Late last year, the City assessed the area and determined that circumstances around the north Hunnell and Clausen area created a threat to public safety and the environment. Since last December, the City has said that we could close and clear the north Hunnell Road area on March 16 – a couple of weeks from right now.

The March 16 timing had been chosen for a variety of reasons:

• We wanted to avoid disrupting people during the coldest winter months.
• The Coordinated Houseless Response Office had proposed a surge of services and support to help people living there find resources and other places to go, and we wanted to give them time to accomplish that. The closure date of March 16 was discussed with the Coordinated Houseless Response Office in December 2022. 
• The Deschutes County Road Department (in February of 2022) had warned the City that increased traffic in the area related to County and ODOT road construction projects this spring would “significantly add to the safety concerns for the people utilizing the encampment area.”

However, the Deschutes County Road Department on Monday said in a Deschutes County Commission meeting that the camp removal is not necessary for the road construction.

Also on Monday, responding to an offer from the City, Deschutes County Commissioners approved establishing a Safe Parking camping area on City-owned land on South Highway 97.

The City and County will develop an agreement on how this land can be managed, and the County will contract with a service provider to manage the site. This work will also include outreach and communication with nearby businesses and residents. We understand this work will take some time and the site will not be ready in two weeks, when the closure was planned.

The City will postpone the complete closure of the Hunnell area to camping until that South Highway 97 site is ready and a service provider is established. We will continue to support our County partners and nonprofits in providing resources to serve the needs of people living around Hunnell Road and in other unmanaged camps across the region.

At the County Commissioners’ meeting Monday, the concept of Safe Parking programs was discussed. We anticipate that the Coordinated Houseless Response Office will apply for a Safe Parking program use for that site. The Safe Parking program requires sites to have supervision and sanitation plans.

The Safe Parking Program is one of many tools the City has used to increase the availability of places people can go. We have successfully moved people into more permanent housing situations through the program and any neighbor concerns that arose have been resolved.

Over the last couple of years, the City has updated codes to allow private or non-profit entities to provide temporary and permanent shelters in Bend and places for people to park safely overnight.

The City Council established a goal of creating 500 shelter beds over the past two years and has nearly met that goal with the purchase of three properties that provide emergency shelter, the creation of the Safe Parking program, and the in-progress development of an outdoor shelter. The City has provided funding for several non profit organizations to build or increase shelter capacity.  

Related but separate, the City’s new camping code goes into effect starting today. The camping code clarifies where and how it is legal to camp on City rights-of-way.

The City will still implement the camping code City-wide starting this month, but due to the unique circumstances at Hunnell Road, we’re not using it for a blanket closure of Hunnell Road.  We will, however, rely on the code’s regulations pertaining to camping “manner” to create a cleaner and safer environment there.

We understand there are a multitude of solutions needed to ultimately find housing solutions for everyone who needs help and we will continue to work with the County and service providers to increase safe places for people to live.

-City Manager Eric King