EUGENE, Ore. (KMTR) -- The City of Eugene has narrowed its list of sites for a possible city-sanctioned homeless camp from more than 400 potential sites to fewer than ten.
Wednesday the City Manager’s Office presented a list of just six locations to site a possible homeless camp that many are calling Opportunity Village Eugene. The presentation was part of a city council work session.
Only five of the six proposed sites made it past councilors though, including three in the Harlow neighborhood near Autzen Stadium, one in the West Jefferson neighborhood and another in the Trainsong neighborhood. None of the sites would require a conditional use permit or zoning changes.
All of the proposed sites are on city-owned property. In the Harlow neighborhood, two proposed camp sites are near the Stadium Park apartments on Commons Drive and Garden Way.
The third proposed Harlow site would be off North MLK Drive, close to the Ducks Village Apartments.
The city has also proposed 120 North Garfield in the Trainsong neighborhood near the city’s Public Works yard.
The fifth proposed spot is the old Naval Reserve site, near 13th and Chambers and Cesar Chavez Elementary School.
A sixth spot - Eugene City Hall - was proposed by city staff. Councilors voted 5 to 2 to eliminate that site from the list.
Councilors approved an order Wednesday for the city to take a more detailed look at the sites now, to see if a homeless camp is possible.
“[We need to] look at the further legal issues both state and local, related to those five sites, any potential environmental issues or regulatory or development issues that would either promote or not promote development of the site,” says Michael Wisth, Grants Manager for the City of Eugene.
So far, there’s no money to fund the camp. There’s also no plan on how to run the camp or what criteria the camp would address, such as how many people and who would be accepted.
The city is inviting a group of social service and non-profit advocates to its next council work session. That panel will address what work they do and how they can help. If the project moves forward, the city will likely work in collaboration with several local non-profits.
The city is also now investigating how to pay for six proposed immediate strategies to help the homeless this winter, including providing lockers, more support for immediate re-housing services, more support for the Station 7 Youth Shelter, continuing to fund an ongoing expansion of St. Vincent de Paul’s car camping program as well as hiring a services coordinator.
