The city of Vancouver evicts homeless campers from one side of NE Andresen Road to the other, every couple of weeks, to execute a massive clean-up operation along the Burnt Bridge Creek Trail

Paul Valencia
ClarkCountyToday.com

It took about 45 minutes to clean up a homeless campsite on the east side of NE Andresen Road along the Burnt Bridge Creek Trail on Wednesday morning, and within the hour, that campsite had relocated to the west side of the street, right next to the trail.

It is just another day in an unusual cycle. Clark County Today has learned that this has been going on for years:

The homeless set up a camp.

The area is quickly trashed.

The homeless get moved out.

The city cleans up the site.

The homeless walk about 200 yards across the street and set up a different camp.

Repeat.

Repeat.

Repeat.

One homeless man told Clark County Today on Wednesday that he believes he has moved six or seven times — back and forth to the exact same locations — in the past few months.

That is in sync with what we learned last week when talking to neighbors and others who use the trail daily. While on the west side of Andresen on Friday, there were no campsites. Two people who were walking the trail said that within a week or two this area would be overrun by tents and belongings.

Sure enough, five days later, the west side of Andresen became a campsite, while the dozens of tents on the east side were gone.

Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle and Jamie Spinelli, the manager of the city’s Homeless Assistance and Resources Team, were there Wednesday morning to observe the latest operation.

The mayor confirmed the timeline.

The campers get an eviction notice. They take with them what they feel is important. Everything left behind is then picked up by clean-up crews, including bio-hazard teams.

“We will come in and clean and sanitize this entire area,” McEnerney-Ogle said. “In a couple of weeks, we’ll do the reverse.”

The mayor said until the proposed Bridge Shelter opens or there are more shelter spaces in place, this will be the protocol.

“This is going to continue until we get a safe shelter, for these people to have an option to go to,” McEnerny-Ogle said.

The mayor also emphasized that the city does not relocate the camp. It only evicts the campers every two weeks. The homeless do not have to go across the street.

While the city does not move anyone to a specific location, the city does hand out two pages of rules and regulations called “Outside Habitation Expectations for Tent Encampments.”

The homeless are not supposed to camp within 200 feet of waterways. They must be 15 feet from paved or improved trail spaces. Fires cannot be set under Bonneville Power Administration high voltage lines, nor on the southern slope of Burnt Bridge Creek, for example.

So while the city does not move anyone anywhere, Spinelli acknowledged there are not a lot of places for the homeless to camp along the Burnt Bridge Creek Trail to meet that criteria, other than these two spots.

“There really aren’t any other options,” Spinelli said. “Where else are they going to go?”

The mayor had an answer that the rest of Clark County probably would not think is prudent.

“Do you have some areas up in Battle Ground?” she asked. “Yacolt? Amboy? Camas? Washougal? We’d be happy to help them go home.”

Also, those who are camping here are supposed to be working toward shelter, housing, and/or employment. 

Spinelli said it is her belief that the majority of people camping along the Burnt Bridge Creek Trail would move into a Safe Stay location or other authorized shelter if available.

Clark County Today spoke to four individuals in the past week who were staying in the campsites. They did not want to use their names.

One woman said on Friday that she would not go to a Safe Stay because there are too many rules. She likes her freedom of camping along the trail.

Another woman said Wednesday that she is registered to take shelter space.

“A lot of us are here for different reasons. Some of us are just trying to get our lives on track,” the woman said.

In fact, she is disappointed in this community because there is so much garbage. She said if those in the campsite cleaned up after themselves, there would be less complaints from the general public.

“I clean up my mess,” she said. 

During Wednesday’s cleanup, several needles were discarded throughout the park. 

“It makes all the homeless look bad,” the woman said. “It reflects on all of us.”

One man said he prefers this camp, this community, because no one here judges him. His only wish is that the city would move the camp once a month, not once every couple of weeks. It is difficult, he said, to constantly be on the move.

The mayor said the consistent cleanups are necessary for health and safety. It is not much different than weekly garbage pick-ups at homes and apartments.

“You take your garbage out and Waste Connections picks it up,” the mayor said. “Waste Connections doesn’t come here. When you have 12 households, think of how much trash in your neighborhood would accumulate. This is what we do. This is health and safety. The last thing we need is any illnesses to happen.”

She used 12 as an example. Last Friday, there were at least two dozen tents set up on the east side of Andresen.

The mayor was impressed with the speed of Wednesday’s operation.

“I hadn’t been to this one,” she said of the cleanup. “I wanted to see who, what, where, why and how.”

The work crews finished cleaning the site in 45 minutes. 

Vancouver Police officers were also on hand to help the operation. They also reminded the campers of the “Outside Habitation” expectations at the “new” site across the street. Some had set up their camps just feet from the path and would have to move at least 15 feet from the path, for example.

“We’re not allowing anybody to stay here. We don’t have the capabilities of enforcing everybody and removing them.,” said Cody Esau, a Vancouver Police officer who is assigned to HART. 

His mission is to help with the outreach program, then serve law enforcement duties when needed.

“Ultimately, where are we going to send them? They choose to stay here,” Esau said.

He also understands the concerns of nearby business owners and neighborhood residents. It can be unnerving to walk the trail and have so many camps set up nearby.

Still, he is not so sure there are more law enforcement issues in or near the camp than in another area of the city.

“There have been issues out here,” he said. “The same issues we deal with here we deal with throughout the city with housed people.”

The mayor also said that those in the homeless camps who are problems do get dealt with by authorities. Law enforcement cites them to appear in Community Court.

“If they work with us … great, we’ll work with you,” the mayor said. “If not, officers give them Community Court.”

In the coming weeks, Clark County Today is expected to reach out to authorities in other areas that deal with the campsites.

Is 200 feet from waterways enough for the Department of Ecology? While the garbage is picked up every two weeks, are the biohazards on the grounds, or in the water, a concern for the department? What about other environmental groups?

Does the Vancouver Fire Department have concerns in regard to urban wildfires, with the potential of a campfire raging out of control this summer?

While it is against the “Habitation Expectations” to have a fire under the BPA lines, Clark County Today did see evidence of a fire right next to a BPA tower. Does the Bonneville Power Administration have an opinion on homeless camps, and campfires, under their towers?