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Citing decline in cases, Salem reverses COVID policy of letting homeless camp in city parks

After more than a year of letting homeless people live outside, socially distanced in city parks, Salem officials reversed the policy this week.

SALEM, Ore. — Thursday afternoon, Colt Davies dragged his tent and belongings from a shady patch in Salem’s Wallace Marine Park. He should be going to the hospital, he said, to be treated for liver failure and neuropathy. But he didn’t want to stop working. The city crews buzzing around him, flanked by police and park rangers, were a clear sign Davies had to be out of the park by the end of the day.

“I can't stop. You know what I mean?” Davies said. “I gotta keep moving it. This is all I have.”

After more than a year of letting homeless people camp in the city’s parks, officials reversed the policy this week. As of June 1, camping overnight in Salem’s parks is once again illegal, punishable by a misdemeanor at the most. Officials told KGW Thursday they’re determined not to charge anyone, but they do need people to leave.

“We never saw parks as being forever homes,” said Gretchen Bennett, the city’s liaison for housing and homelessness issues.

In an interview Thursday, Bennett said officials opened Salem's parks to camping when COVID infection rates were at their peak, believing it was the safest option for people. It allowed them to live outside and easily maintain social distance. But now, widespread vaccinations have put Oregon on the brink of reopening. As pandemic restrictions fall away, she said, so will pandemic protections.

Bennett noted the process will happen gradually, over a period of months. Ideally, officials will opt to clear campers as shelter beds open up. She added advocates have been meeting with people in advance to help connect them to those resources.

“We're trying to pay attention to [questions like] ‘What are the openings? What are people’s needs?’ and to the extent we can, work with that while also trying to restore some of the areas that were needing to come into environmental compliance at the parks,” she said.

But even if it happens gradually, this is a massive operation. The city estimates 571 people are living in Salem's parks. Local shelters could only take in a small fraction of that. A rep for the local nonprofit ARCHES said the Salem area has 314 year-round shelter beds. Another 225 open up during extreme weather and other seasonal conditions.

Most of the area’s beds are full now, Bennett noted. So, while the number fluctuates day to day, Salem’s shelters can only take in a small fraction of the people camping in its parks.

Thursday, sidewalks in the city’s downtown core were mostly clear, with the exception of one camp. Before the city opened up the parks, campers lined those sidewalks, prompting a steady stream of complaints from business owners. Then, when COVID hit, frustration turned to fear: people worried the virus would run rampant among the campers crowded onto sidewalks downtown.

Opening the parks solved both problems.

Now, that option is going away. Where people will go, Bennett said, remains to be seen.

“The reality is we don't have enough shelter beds and enough affordable housing,” she said.

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