A large homeless camp north of Southeast Mill Plain Boulevard, where Northeast Chkalov Drive turns into Northeast 112th Avenue, was removed by the city of Vancouver last week. A neighboring property owner is looking into purchasing the now vacant lot, seen here Monday, but nothing has been solidified, according to Jamie Spinelli, Vancouver's Homeless Response Coordinator. (Amanda Cowan/The Columbian)Photo Gallery
A large homeless camp north of Southeast Mill Plain Boulevard, where Northeast Chkalov Drive turns into 112th Avenue, was removed by the city of Vancouver last week.
Plans to remove the camp were in place for more than six weeks due to health and safety concerns, according to Jamie Spinelli, Vancouver’s Homeless Response Coordinator.
Because the camp was located on a lot surrounded by private property, the city could not offer or provide hygiene or sanitation services — chemical toilets, hand washing stations, dumpsters — at or near the camp, said Spinelli in an email.
“It was extremely rat infested; there had been several fires at this camp; there were several drug overdoses at this camp; unsafe structures had been built by camp residents,” she said.
“Overall, it just wasn’t healthy or safe for the individuals camping there or the surrounding community, and we didn’t have the ability to mitigate any of the health and safety issues at this particular location due to the lack of access,” Spinelli said. “There was also a pretty significant amount of criminal activity traced back to that camp.”
Vancouver Fire Marshal Heidi Scarpelli noted that the camp had become a hot spot for fires: Between April 8 and 12, the city fire marshal’s office responded to the encampment six times.
Roughly 15 people were living at the camp on Wednesday when the cleanup occurred.
“Everyone there had been offered shelter and other services for several months leading to the move out,” Spinelli said.
Community outreach teams, as well as Vancouver’s Homeless Assistance and Resources Team, frequently visited the site for months before notice of removal was posted six weeks ago. Additional notices were posted weekly at the camp, Spinelli said.
The city intended to remove the camp a week earlier, but the unexpected snowstorm on April 11 pushed the removal back a week.
A few camp residents accepted and moved into available shelter options Wednesday following removal of the camp, Spinelli said. The city offered to store their personal property prior to the move out, but no one accepted the offer.
“Everyone took with them what they wanted to keep, and we discarded the solid waste left behind,” Spinelli said.
The number of residents living at the camp fluctuated, though Spinelli estimated that 15 to 20 people at a time lived there on average.
A neighboring property owner is looking into purchasing the now vacant lot, but nothing has been solidified, Spinelli said.
