The Malheur County Sheriff’s Office is continuing to clear out a homeless encampment on private property outside of Ontario.
Dubbed “The Flats,” the area off of Northwest 22nd Avenue has become an illegal sanctuary for the unhoused who live in recreation vehicles.
Travis Johnson, Malheur County sheriff, said that his office in September began working on a plan to clear the area of the RVs.
Johnson noted that about five of the RVs on the property have moved on from the area. He said others at the encampment have avoided contact with him and his deputies. Johnson said some who own the RVs have abandoned them entirely, while others who don’t actually own the vehicles have come in and started inhabiting them.
This, he said, makes establishing ownership difficult.
“It’s going to be a lot to sort out,” he said.
He said getting the abandoned RVs off the property would be a significant expense because the tow companies don’t want them.
He said he thinks the county might have a place to put the vehicles, but moving up to 20 campers wedged into the property “won’t be cheap.”
He said the other complexity is figuring out how to dispose of the RVs afterward, which would be done within the “confines of the law.”
Johnson said the RVs that have been abandoned can’t be left on the property. He said the sheriff’s office has authority from the county to act because the encampment violates county ordinance.
Johnson said the landowners have gotten to a point where they don’t know what to do. He noted the RVs began showing up on the property about four years ago and, over time, have steadily become a bigger problem.
Johnson said the area has become a hotbed for crime and is dangerous to the community. In January, it was the sight of one of the county’s homicides.
There is garbage strewn over an area of 50 yards with human waste, he said. It’s become an environmental hazard.
“It’s really unsanitary,” he said.
Early on in September, Johnson noted that the clean-up effort would
not happen immediately, that it would be a “multi-day, multi-week effort.”
He added that clearing out the area would be a process and that people would not be removed immediately.
He said he met with other agencies to craft a plan to clear the area. Johnson said some showed up to a meeting while others didn’t. Lifeways, a major mental health provider, was the agency that contributed the most to the effort, Johnson said. He said the mental health provider offered drug rehabilitation and counseling services to those who were interested.
“You have a lot of empathy for these folks,” he said. “They’re there for various reasons, sometimes out of their own control, oftentimes not.”
He said some might say that the sheriff’s office is not being compassionate to those who are struggling with homelessness. But, Johnson said, to let people live in “squalor” is not fair to them or the community.
Johnson said the people deputies spoke with weren’t told where to go. He said the goal was to help people find elsewhere to go where they would not be a drain on resources. He said some likely ended up other places in the county or even Ontario.
There is a designated camping site for the unhoused in Ontario in a lot on Southwest 13th Avenue. That site, though, restricts RVs.
Dan Cummings, Ontario city manager, said the issue isn’t as simple as moving RVs off the private property.
“It’s not set up for that and the law does not require us to do that,” he said.
The Ontario camping site opened after the city passed an ordinance last year prohibiting camping on city property and rights-of-way – including parks – between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.
Cummings said Ontario does not have the money or the resources to build an RV park, which is what the law requires for those living in recreational vehicles.
News tip? Send your information to Steven Mitchell at [email protected].
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