St. Paul clears encampment near Mississippi River
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St. Paul officials closed a large homeless encampment just east of downtown Thursday, citing unsafe conditions.
Until recently, at least 40 people lived in tents and yurts at the lot near I-94, at the entrance to the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary.
Around 10 people were still living at the camp Thursday morning, 10 days after the city posted a notice to vacate. By sunrise, they were lighting campfires and loading belongings into trailers, trucks and backpacks.
Resident Vang Yang was packing up the last of his belongings. He said volunteers and city workers had been on site earlier this week helping people move out.
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“They really did help us. Otherwise, we’d be in trouble with this temperature, this weather,” Yang said. “They’ve got cars and trailers, they make it really kind of easy.”
City officials said the camp was unsafe. A fire in October burned six tents, according to the St. Paul Fire Department. After that, the department visited the camp for a safety assessment. In the report, deputy fire chief Jamie Smith said sanitary conditions were poor, and there were several fire hazards, like fire pits close to tents.
“It presents a safety issue when people are forced to live outside,” Smith said in a statement. “At this time, the situation at this encampment is too dangerous for anyone to be living in these conditions.”
City workers were on site Thursday to help pack up. Staff from the city’s homelessness outreach teams – Familiar Faces and the Homelessness Assistance Response Team (HART) – have been visiting residents ahead of the closure to try to connect them to relocation options. Fire and police department staff were also on the scene.
Mayor Melvin Carter visited the site Thursday morning. He said city offices planned ahead to connect with residents. He said there are challenges to getting people into housing, between space at shelters and people who say shelters don’t meet their needs;
“You have people who have pets, you have people who have families, children, spouses, who need to be in spaces that can accommodate the way that they live,” Carter said. “We need a set of solutions that's just as diverse as the set of challenges that bring people into this space.”
Officials said some residents found temporary or permanent housing. They also recommended several shelters in the area.
But some shelters say beds are scarce right now. The Catholic Charities Higher Ground emergency shelter was on the city’s list of recommendations; Elizabeth Lyden at Catholic Charities Twin Cities said demand for space is high.
“Right now, we are at capacity each night — and often on colder nights will have a few people sitting in our lobby area,” Lyden said in a statement.
Lyden said the shelter is working on adding extra beds Thursday.
Encampment resident Yang said he’s moving to another encampment nearby. He’s stayed in shelters before, but he said he doesn’t like many shelters’ opening and closing schedules, and the uncertainty of staying in temporary beds.
Mayor Carter said the city’s goal is to get people indoors, but there aren’t plans to close other encampments.
“Our goal is to work over a long trajectory with folks to make sure that we understand their story, understand what brought them here, understand what their unique needs are,” Carter said. “We don't sanction encampments. There are safety concerns.”
City officials expected to be on site for several hours Thursday while residents cleared the area. By 9 a.m., a small bulldozer had started pulling up empty tents at the edge of the camp.
