Hundreds of homeless people will lose their semi-permanent shelters over the next two months as Phoenix begins clearing out the downtown homeless encampment called the Zone. Where the displaced people will go next is uncertain.
The decision to clear out the encampment, which stretches between Ninth and 12th avenues south of Washington Street, resulted from an order by a Maricopa County Superior Court judge. Attorneys representing 15 people who own properties in the vicinity of the encampment filed suit on August 10. In March, a judge ruled in their favor, giving the city until July 10 to clear the area.
Kristin Couturier, a senior public information officer for the city, wrote in a statement to Phoenix New Times that the city plans to offer housing to people as they are removed from the Zone.
Couturier said that the plan “includes offering each person an alternative location and closing down each block to camping after engagement is complete.”
On Wednesday morning, the city will clear one block of the Zone — Ninth Avenue north of Jefferson Street. “We will be able to offer a bed to everyone in the designated engagement area on May 10,” Couturier continued.
This process is expected to continue until there are no tents or other structures left in the Zone.
No place to call home
The latest data from the city of Phoenix indicates that the number of people living in the Zone is 679, which far outnumbers available shelter space. Previous estimates put the number of people living semi-permanently in the Zone at over 1,000. According to data released by the city’s Office of Homeless Solutions on April 20, there are only 34 beds available out of a total of 1,017 across four of Phoenix's largest shelters — meaning those shelters are at 97% capacity.
Those shelters are Central Arizona Shelter Services, located next to the Zone; the 100-bed Respiro that opened last year; the Washington Relief Shelter, run by St. Vincent de Paul; and Rio Fresco, a hotel leased by the city.
Although the four shelters represent the majority of temporary housing in Phoenix, there are other shelters in Maricopa County. However, their daily capacity is not clear.
“Moving forward, it will continue to be a coordinated effort with our partners, and our goal is to have an indoor place for someone to go,” Couturier said. “The city is exploring creative solutions such as leasing hotels to add additional rooms for individuals needing shelter and working with other government partners to identify vacant buildings which could be used to support those experiencing homelessness.”
For now, the city plans to open a new prefabricated structure and an additional shelter for seniors sometime this year. The two buildings will add another 450 beds.
City to appeal ruling
On March 27, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Scott Blaney sided with the dozen property owners who brought a lawsuit against the city over the Zone. He found that conditions in the area amounted to a public nuisance and issued an injunction ordering the city to clear the area by July 10. The city plans to appeal Blaney’s ruling to the Arizona Court of Appeals.
“The appeal will address aspects of the ruling but will not change the city’s previously announced plan,” Couturier said, referring to the plan to clear out the Zone.
In court pleadings filed on April 26, the city requested that the judge delay his order to clear out the encampment until the appeal had been decided.
“The Court’s Order effectively requires that the City forcibly remove hundreds of homeless people and their property from a section of the City by July 10, 2023, and reallocate City funds to complete construction of campgrounds in order to support this effort,” attorneys for the city of Phoenix wrote in the pleading. This is problematic because, among other reasons, it “intrudes into local law enforcement and prosecutorial discretion,” the attorneys argued.
On April 28, Blaney declined to stay his ruling, saying that the city “has not established good cause” for him to do so.
