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City Of Eugene Expands Capacity For Temporary Parking & Tent Shelter Sites

City of Eugene

Eugene city councilors voted unanimously on Wednesday to boost capacity at temporary shelter sites for tents and parking. The city aims to prioritize people living in areas unsanctioned for camping. 

“Safe parking” and tent sites can now shelter up to 60 vehicles or 40 tents. When new sites become operational, the city plans to move homeless campers living in unsanctioned areas to designated shelters.

In response to the pandemic, the city has temporarily allowed urban camping in some areas if camps followed health guidelines and requirements.

The ordinance passed highlights 13th and Chambers and Washington Jefferson Park as priorities. The city intends to crack down on camping in these spaces while offering occupants a spot at a shelter site.

 

Assistant city manager Kristie Hammitt explained why the city will create new camps after being questioned by councilor Mike Clark.

 

"The point is to build capacity for those that are unsheltered right now, to provide safer places for people to be, to connect them to services, and to also...help provide a path forward to the next transition to different housing," Hammitt said.

 

Sites will include garbage disposal, toilets, handwashing stations, and potable water. Possible locations have not been identified yet.
 

Copyright 2021 KLCC

Melorie Begay is a multimedia journalist for KLCC News. She was the Inaugural KLCC Public Radio Foundation Journalism Fellow. She has a bachelors in Multimedia Journalism from the University of New Mexico. She previously interned at KUNM public radio in Albuquerque, NM and served as a fellow for the online news publication New Mexico In Depth.
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