CORVALLIS - During the pandemic, The City Council has ordered it’s law against illegal camping to loosen dramatically.
It’s hard not to notice the tent cities that have developed in the areas, like the communities under the Highway 20 overpass in downtown Corvallis, or the closed BMX park.
Normally, the law on illegal camping states as follows:
5.03.080.080.02 - Illegal Camping:
It is unlawful for any person to camp in or upon a public right-of-way, park, sidewalk, alley, street, under any bridge, or any properties owned by the City of Corvallis except as provided in Section 5.03.080.080.04 below, or Chapter 5.01, as amended, or by declaration of the City Manager of Emergency Circumstances.
2) A violation of this section is a Class C Misdemeanor.
However, amid the pandemic the City of Corvallis now allows “camping at any park,” according to the Corvallis Police Department’s Capt. Joel Goodwin. I.e. illegal camping will not be enforced.
“There certainly is a visible change that we’ve seen with COVID in terms of the number of people that are visible in our parks. Of course homelessness is not a new thing, but what we’ve noticed is with COVID we’ve seen quite a few more people that are out of the parks and more visible,” said Captain Joel Goodwin of the Corvallis Police Department.
Alongside the illegal camping laws not being enforced, non-profit Unity Shelter (with authorization from The City of Corvallis) has established a managed tent camp in the BMX park, adjacent to the Men’s Shelter and Hygiene Center in South Corvallis, off of Chapman Place. This includes set up such as designated tent camping platforms with adequate spacing, toilets, trash service, and hand washing sinks. Additionally, showers, warming tents, and food may be available as well. The BMX track is closed for all other uses while the managed camp is in place, and currently, The City Council has announced that the camp shall end no later than May 15.
Additionally, a limited number of recreational vehicles (RV’s) and cars are allowed to park at Pioneer Park parking lot, overnight. This is only with prior approval from the City of Corvallis however, and following a background check. They do not have any on site facilities for dumping/disposing of water and its inhabitants. As of current, the City is not taking new applications from the general public. All other camping at other municipal and park system parking lots is not permitted. RV and car camping at Pioneer Park is scheduled to end on March 31.
See it all here: https://www.corvallisoregon.gov/cd/page/temporary-overnight-camping-information
“At some point there was a bit of a shift because I think initially with COVID it was the ‘stay at home and save lives’ philosophy, and that’s changed and evolved over time. But with that initial philosophy cities across Oregon received guidance for our homeless community members; we don’t want to move them, just like we don’t want people to leave their homes; moving could potentially increase the risk to other community members,” said Goodwin.
“Another trend we have noticed is that not only do we have more people camping in public places, but that many of them are not from this area, because a lot of other communities have sort of resumed their previous practice of addressing it, we have people from communities as close as Albany, as far away as other states that are coming to Corvallis, because they know it’s [illegal camping] is not being enforced, and they know that there are alot of services that are offered here too.”
“This sort of complicates the problem I think for our entire community. And this is a community problem, it’s not a police problem, and I think that people often look to the police to solve it, because problem solving is part of our job. Some of the behaviors become police issues, but it’s something that we all need to figure out a solution together to address it. Many of our service providers were already at their maximum, and now this is adding to that. So it’s making it much more difficult for them too.”
Some available resources for the community include Community Services Consortium (this includes multiple counties), Jackson Street Youth Services, Community Outreach Inc, and Roadrunner Resources (for students).
Many cities have already gone back to enforcing their illegal camping laws, such as Albany, which also has an officially managed homeless camp on their close BMX track as well. City officials met in Sept. 2020 to discuss a 90 day - four stage - plan that ultimately “cleans up” all homeless camps in the City, excluding the managed camp at the BMX track. Read about the Albany City Council meeting here.
“However, if there are certain behaviors that violate other park rules, they can be asked to leave,” said Goodwin.
“We have seen a significant increase in aggravated assault among adults, and much of that is related to our parks. We have seen several stabbings for example at the [Corvallis] Skate Park in recent months, and other assaults."
There are No Camping Enforcement Zones, however. These include:
Proximity to rivers, waterways, and floodplains;
Environmentally sensitive areas (such as wooded areas, Riparian zones and other protected natural areas);
Park locations within 50 feet of designated play areas, ballfields or park features;
Parking lots;
Other city rights-of-way.
Alongside camping in parks, the parks department provides trash service in some areas, such as the skatepark camp (highway 20 bridge camp). This camp is not managed, but still allowed because it’s in any park.
“The City of Corvallis has provided direction that they want to continue not enforcing illegal camping in our parks,” said Goodwin.
At a Glance:
Who: Corvallis Capt. Joel Goodwin
What: 411 on Illegal Camping in Corvallis.
Informative Links: No Camping Enforcement Zones, https://www.corvallisoregon.gov/cd/page/temporary-overnight-camping-information
Ways to Get Help or get Involved: Community Services Consortium, Jackson Street Youth Services, Community Outreach Inc, Roadrunner Resources (for LBCC students).
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