Last 7 Hunnell Road residents still working to move out, despite city’s 48-hour extension due to wildfire smoke

(Update: City responds to federal lawsuit, disputes order to block final clearing. Comments by Hunnell resident)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Because of poor air quality in the region due to wildfire smoke, people in the temporarily closed area of Hunnell Road and Clausen Road will be given an additional 48 hours to the seven days they were already provided to vacate the area with their belongings and vehicles/RVs, the city of Bend said Monday.

"People are now required to vacate the area no later than midnight on Wednesday, July 26," the announcement stated.

Despite a federal lawsuit filed Monday to block the move of 22 people given an extra week, the city said it "will resume its clean up operations on the morning of Thursday, July 27."

"The additional time is in accordance with the City’s Administrative Policy 2023-4, which allows suspension of enforcement for reasons that include wildfire smoke." the announcement said.

The city also said it was distributing KN95 masks Monday to people in the Hunnell and Clausen area.

"People in the area should continue preparing to leave, but can do the work necessary to leave more safely with 48 hours of additional time and respiratory protection," the city's announcement concluded.

Some disabled campers who were supposed to move Monday are still ready to leave. Michelle Hester said she will have her RV towed over to Juniper Ridge.

"Seven of us are being towed out of here today, hopefully. But we're still getting all split up," she said.

Alfalfa Towing was out on site Monday, voluntarily towing people's vehicles. The owner says the community needs to come together to help homeless.

Meanwhile, the city of Bend has fired back after three of the 22 remaining homeless residents filed suit in federal court on Friday, accusing the city of violating their constitutional rights and the Americans with Disabilities Act by only giving them an extra week to leave.

A 15-page response filed Sunday by city attorneys Mary Winters and Brooke Olsen said the complaint filed in federal court has “nearly identical claims and concerns” as the ones rejected by Deschutes County Circuit Judge Wells Ashby, only “recasting the issues as constitutional claims” and “repackaging” the claims made there “to shift their emphasis to questions about their rights to an appeal.”

They cited case law in their favor and said the proper course of action for claims rejected by the Deschutes County Court is to appeal to a higher, state court. They claim the federal court “does not have subject matter jurisdiction” on the matter.

They also questioned plaintiff Eric Garrity of the Bend Equity Project's legal standing in the matter, noting that he “is not experiencing homelessness” and doesn’t live on those streets. (The full court filing is below this article.)

Three of the nearly two-dozen disabled Hunnell Road homeless residents given an extra week to leave amid the city's street clearing approved by a Deschutes County judge have sued the city in federal court, alleging violations of their constitutional rights and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Bend resident Foster Fell said Saturday he hand-delivered and filed the request for an injunction and temporary restraining order to U.S. District Court in Eugene on Friday. Judge Ann Aiken has been assigned the case, but Fell said the judge has not yet ruled on the request.

Similar to the Deschutes County filing and request denied last Monday by Circuit Judge Wells Ashby, the federal civil complaint lists three disabled homeless people as plaintiffs, on behalf of themselves and other homeless individuals on Hunnell and Clausen roads, along with Eric Garrity of the Bend Equity Project.

The defendants, once again, include City Manager Eric King, Bend Mayor Melanie Kebler and the rest of the city council, as well as the city itself.

Garrity, who was out on Hunnell Road serving lunch Saturday, told NewsChannel 21 there are still people attempting to repair their vehicles and/or in need of first aid amid "oppressively hot" conditions.

"People are really struggling, trying to get out," he said. "It's a tough situation."

Bend’s accessibility manager advised 22 residents along Hunnell and neighboring streets that they were being granted “reasonable accommodation” under the city’s camping code and ADA, and being given an extra week to move from the street location, until next Tuesday.

But the plaintiffs claim the 22 individuals have widely varying disabilities, and the “cookie-cutter” approach violated their rights.

In the federal suit, the plaintiffs claim the judge didn’t address the ADA issue, only saying the city had complied with its own regulations and “right, even an obligation, to regulate its own streets.”

The plaintiffs argue that their Fourteenth Amendment right to due process is being violated by the city and they “are being deprived of a right and remedy granted” by the ADA to appeal the city's modification decision. They allege their rights “will be irreparably violated” without a temporary restraining order because the city “is in the process of seizing and destroying their property.”

They also allege a violation of their Eighth Amendment rights “because they are under threat of being arrested if they refuse to leave their homes and other property” on Tuesday. They call the one-week extension "meaningless … due to the serious nature” of their disabilities, when some have lived there for almost eight years.

The complaint also says that despite the city’s notice that shelter beds are available for those who must move, those living in RVs can’t go there because they can’t have their RVs on site. They say those living in tents “have too much property for what the local shelters will allow,” and that several have been sexually harassed by men staying there or that “the closeness in the shelter environment … aggravates their mental disabilities.”

They are requesting an order to block removal of the remaining residents and that a hearing happen quickly, before a federal magistrate in Bend, on whether a permanent injunction should be issued, “given the substantial constitutional violations” they allege.

Even if the suit is picked up by a judge, Hester says she doesn't think anything will change. "Even if this passes i think it will cause us more trouble. I don't think we'll still be treated fair. I mean we still have people driving down flipping us off, calling us names." She said.