That case was assigned to Judge Orrick, who expressed concern about the short notice and lack of shelter options. Ramona Choyce recounts the moment when an April fire killed one person at a homeless encampment on Wood Street in Oakland. Caltrans spokesperson Rocquel Johnson said the agency plans to eventually completely close the parts of the encampment that are under freeway overpasses and work to relocate people to safer conditions.. Police tagged vehicles with illegal parking notices as residents scrambled to move motorcycles, cars and RVs. Official Website for the City of Oakland | Mayor Sheng Thao. Housing | I do not look forward to being kicked out. Bay Bridge light display will go dark after a decade Sunday. Local News | If you or someone you know is hungry, homeless, or housing insecure - Call 2-1-1. Reporting an Issue If you or someone you know is hungry, homeless, or housing insecure - Call 2-1-1. The land was mostly owned by Caltrans, and after a history of fires on the site and concerns about the proximity of a nearby oxygen production plant, on July 15, 2022 the agency gave residents 5-days' notice to clear the site. In May, city officials put the total number of residents in the encampment at 300 people. The audit found the new policy lays the groundwork for needed change, but implementation has been slow, as the city is inundated with complaints about encampments. Thank you for your patience while we work to restore services. Oakland is experiencing a network outage that is affecting key services such as Oak311, permitting and business tax. A burned-out van amid charred rubble of where Ramon Choyce once lived at a homeless encampment on Wood Street in Oakland. We cant go far, Clutch said. Local News | Neighbors tell Da Lin the looming closure is long overdue. And, he ordered the state transportation agency to work with staff from the city of Oakland and from Alameda County to come up with a plan to relocate residents. Newsom paid a surprise visit to the encampment in April to show the inhumane living conditions too many Californians face.. Pushing people with no real and adequate shelter to accommodate them is inhumane and does not solve the larger problem.. Because the city had not budgeted for those expenses, staff had to divert resources away from other essential services including responding to illegal dumping, conducting fire inspections and maintaining traffic signals and street lights. Designate high-sensitivity areas, where unmanaged encampments are presumed to cause unreasonably high levels of health and safety impacts due to the nature of the location; Designate low-sensitivity areas, where enforcement will not be prioritized. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area. OAKLAND, CA When U.S. District Court Judge William Orrick issued a temporary restraining order on Jan. 6, 2023 forbidding the city of Oakland from closing a homeless encampment at 1707. A large fire that swept through a homeless encampment underneath the 880 Freeway in West Oakland on Monday destroyed several vehicles and RVs before it was put . 1,000 people on a section of the former Oakland Army Base. The city wants to build the state-funded community cabin site in partnership with residents and a provider who would offer wraparound services at the site. That's higher than what a typical . The number of people sleeping on Oaklands streets jumped from 1,902 in 2017 to 3,210 in 2019, according to the most recent point-in-time counts. A large column of black smoke rises Tuesday, April 5, 2022, from a fire at a homeless encampment next to West Grand Avenue and Wood Street in Oakland's Prescott neighborhood. Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. "These are vehicles of human beings," he said at the hearing, "and they are not to be lost.". The Team provides sanitation services and regular trash pick up. Encampment Management is necessary to address the emergency needs of our unhoused residents, and serves as one part of the Citys overall response to prevent, stabilize and house our community. Housing proposal for unhoused leaves Santa Clara residents sharply divided At the start of 2020, the city was conducting several camp closures each monthseven in January, and nine each in February and Marchuntil COVID-19 cases began rising and the county went on lockdown. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group), OAKLAND, CA - SEPTEMBER 26: A member of the Oakland Police Department posts warning notices for illegally parked vehicles at the Wood Street homeless encampment on Monday, Sept. 26, 2022, in Oakland, Calif. Caltrans is overseeing the cleanup of its property along Wood Street. Caltrans has completed much smaller sweeps in the past. A United Nations report from 2018, for example, stated that a U.N. investigator witnessed officials "attempting to discourage residents from remaining in informal settlements or encampments by denying access to water, sanitation and health services and other basic necessities, [which] constitutes cruel and inhuman treatment and is a . Caltrans said it would shut down the entire encampment, clearing out about 200 people who live there. The city did not immediately return a request for comment. An attorney for the city said it doesn't have enough safe parking sites for everyone to bring their vehicles there. Photos by Bront Wittpenn and Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle, decried the lack of access to clean water, just awarded Oakland a $4.7 million grant. Forcing Californians into mental health treatment would get easier with proposed legislation Cold Bay Area rains fail to shut down vibrant Holi celebration in Fremont. Wood Street encampment resident Theo Cedar Jones points to a map of the area hes living near at the Wood Street encampment on April 29, 2022 in Oakland, California.on Friday. The order is the latest in a long-running dispute over a homeless camp that once covered 40 acres under the Nimitz Freeway in Oakland where between 200 and 300 people lived in vehicles, RVs, tents and other makeshift structures. Related Articles We are ready to scale up for reductions in homelessness, though new state and federal funds and more intergovernmental coordination are needed. All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! But if it fails to get people into real shelter and housing, it could be a cautionary tale for officials throughout California struggling with mushrooming encampments. The encampment is on property owned by the city, railroads and various government agencies, including Caltrans, which owns the property directly under the freeway. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group), OAKLAND, CA - SEPTEMBER 26: An officer with the California Highway Patrol watches as a vehicle is towed from the Wood Street homeless encampment on Monday, Sept. 26, 2022, in Oakland, Calif. Caltrans is overseeing the cleanup of its property along Wood Street. The Commission on Homelessness provides oversight of the Oakland vacant property tax received bv the City of Oakland for homeless services, and makes recommendations to the City Council for strategies to remedy homelessness. It ended badly, Hit bean company Rancho Gordo embroiled in discrimination lawsuit. He said, "This TRO is not a long-term prohibition on Oakland's actions but rather a stopgap to prevent violation of constitutional rights that are likely to result from the combination of the state-of-emergency weather situation and the failure to provide alternative shelter.". (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group). She graduated from American University with a BA degree in literature with a minor in journalism. Several non-emergency systems including phone lines within the City of Oakland are currently impacted or offline. Housing | Despite the problems, Wood Street residents say they look out for each other and have formed a self-sufficient community, building homes using wood panels and doors among the abandoned railroad tracks. She joined The Chronicle in 2016 after graduating from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. Walters: Is ending Californias homelessness just a matter of money? City officials have been . Housing | In May, Gov. A federal judge on Friday refused to let Caltrans "wash their hands" of people living in a homeless encampment on Wood Street in Oakland by clearing them from it. All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! The audit also analyzed the citys ability to respond when its unhoused communities need help. Officials have argued that they dont have enough shelter beds to accommodate the number of people living at the encampment, which spans 25 city blocks. By City News Service on . The streets of Oakland are already full of unhoused persons, many of whom were previously evicted from their encampments.". Oaklands $12.6 million effort to deal with its recent explosion of homeless encampments was haphazard, lacking strategy, policy direction and adequate funding, according to a scathing new city audit. February 22, 2023. The judge noted that while the U.S. constitution does not require the government to protect people from harm caused by third persons, there is an exception when the state "affirmatively places [a plaintiff] in danger by acting with deliberate indifference to a known or obvious danger.". . July 11, 2022 / 6:27 PM / CBS San Francisco. News Feb 07, 2023 ", previously halted Caltrans plans to clear the camp. If you would like to report new concern, please use the TacomaFIRST 311 online system or call 3-1-1 within city limits or (253) 591-5000 outside the city. After nearly two-month delay, judge allows, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Bay Area weather: After thunderstorms and hail, snow could be on the way this weekend, After nearly two-month delay, judge allows Oakland to remove large homeless camp, Housing proposal for unhoused leaves Santa Clara residents sharply divided, Forcing Californians into mental health treatment would get easier with proposed legislation, Grappling with homelessness, California weighs extending foster care for 5 years. Oakland has responded to the crisis level surge in homelessness with emergency measures like community cabins. Among its recommendations, the audit found the city should ensure staff members are trained in crisis management and interacting with traumatized encampment residents. Gavin Newsoms administration awarded Oakland a $4.7. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani. He says Caltrans has forced him to move several times. According to a report by the city administrative officer, the new East Hollywood campground costs approximately $2,663 per participant per month. Oakland shut down a portion of its largest homeless encampment, starting the daunting work of clearing a massive, sprawling camp that has been plagued by fires as the city prepares to. Multiple fires have erupted at the citys largest homeless encampment, which extends for several city blocks and has been home to hundreds of people. The audit found the City was not adequately prepared to shoulder such a massive project and the (encampment management team) was overwhelmed by the undertaking of closing and cleaning encampments throughout Oakland, City Auditor Courtney Ruby wrote in an open letter to Mayor Libby Schaaf, the City Council and other city officials. Because of the connection to the earlier litigation, the case was assigned to Judge Orrick who entered a TRO on January 6, 2023. Specifically, the audit found the City lacked an effective strategy for dealing with the growth in encampments and did not provide sufficient policy direction or adequate funding at the onset of this crisis, the letter continued. (Beth LaBerge/KQED) Caltrans workers clear a barricade made by Wood Street residents meant to keep Caltrans out of the encampment in Oakland on Sept. 8, 2022. Driven by a housing crisis and continuing economic inequality that hits Oaklands most vulnerable. Resident Ron McGowan, who lives at the site in question, said there are about 80 people there. Clutch, a 40-year-old Wood Street encampment resident who said he has no last name, was one of the five people moved last month. Hayward couple file lawsuit over harrowing honeymoon ocean ordeal in Hawaii. (213) 229-1700. The encampment is one of the largest in the city and has been plagued with problems such as illegal dumping and fires for years. Without a "constitutional right to housing," Orrick said he had no authority to allow the encampment to remain on the property. Over the past seven years, Oaklands Wood Street encampment has exploded in size. March 23, 2021 6:54 PM PT. And Orrick agreed. She started her journalism career reporting on crime and breaking news for The News-Press in Southwest Florida. Jones and several residents presented their idea of a self-governed site to city staff and Fife at a meeting last summer. Homeless Encampment at Lake Merritt Blvd Oakland, CA, 94607, USA: Hi, both sidewalks on either side of the channel going from Lake Merritt to the Bay are entirely blocked by homeless encampments. Housing | Earlier this month, Gov. Hall of Justice. The plaintiffs and all living at the Wood Street encampment must make immediate plans to move.". Santa Ana, California 92703. Now, both new shelter sites appear to be up and running, and the judge has once again changed course. Settlement reached between . The Citys suggestion that it has no responsibility for homeless individuals on state property unless there is a specific earmark is simply unacceptable, Patterson wrote. Caltrans removed five people living on its property between 16th and 20th streets after the deadly fire in April and is now installing concrete barriers and fencing to prevent people from returning to the area. City and state leaders say a deadly fire that occurred in April at the site, killing one and displacing five, makes action there all the more urgent. Oakland Unveils 100-Person Tiny-Home Village at Troubled Wood Street Encampment What was once northern California's largest homeless encampment at Wood Street in Oakland now has a. The city doesnt have the resources to close something as large as Wood Street, said LaTonda Simmons, the citys former interim homelessness administrator. street outreach, homeless shelters, transitional housing, housing exits, and permanent supportive housing as needed. Oakland residents told a polling firm in 2023 that homelessness, such as at the Wood Street encampment, is their top concern for the city to address in its coming budget. She has provided coverage on wildfires, mass shootings, the fatal shooting of police officers and massive floods in the North Bay. The encampment is now so huge that some residents drive buses and motorcycles to get from one end to the other. Bay, Heres where California reservoir levels stand after recent rainfall, Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads). Earlier this week, a coalition of residents wrote a public letter to state, city and county officials urging them to work with them. In an attempt to fend off the impending closure of the Commons, residents sued the city in early January. that was may . Residents say the camp is a place where they can live how they want after losing stable homes because of evictions or job losses. They asked for resources to make the encampment safer, including access to dumpsters for trash removal, fire extinguishers, sand buckets, water hoses and assistance creating markers throughout the encampment so that emergency service providers could more easily navigate the area. The conditions at the encampment which has mountains of trash and burned-out vehicles were called cruel and inhumane in a U.N. report from 2018. Its unclear if the transportation agency meant the entire Wood Street encampment or only the part located on land it owns. Theo Cedar Jones (third from right) and other residents of the Wood Street encampment proposed self-governing during a meeting with Oakland staff in July. Local News | There are another 40 spaces available in pre-existing tiny home, safe parking and other sites throughout the city and there likely will be dozens of beds free at St. Vincent de Paul, a dorm-style shelter in West Oakland, according to the city. When could it return? Caltrans couldnt immediately be reached for further comment. Homeless advocates said residents were offered alternative shelter spaces. We appreciate your patience; the homelessness@oaklandca.gov service has been restored. Sarah Ravani covers Oakland and the East Bay at The San Francisco Chronicle. Jones and several other residents want the city and state to give them the land to build their own community, equipped with a kitchen and common area to play music. Housing | A U.N. report from 2018 called the conditions there cruel and inhumane. The expert behind the report compared it to the poorest places in the world, decried the lack of access to clean water and toilets, and said the rodent infestations, fire dangers and other hazards should be quickly addressed. A show made by people behind bars in California prisons. Homelessness has doubled in the last 10 years. You can report an encampment at the following locations: Bridges Highways Parks or playgrounds Outside of residential and commercial buildings Roadway tunnels Streets and sidewalks Subway stations Report an encampment. the city has scheduled sweeps of the site, cleared the parts of the encampment on its property. The final 2019-2021 budget allocates $32 million to address homelessness by: expanding health, sanitation, safety services for unsheltered residents funding self-governed encampments and temporary housing options such as tiny homes, shipping containers, and mobile homes. This chart is updated at the end of each month. The action will set in motion the eviction of several dozen people living on a vacant, city-owned lot off Wood Street in West Oakland . Oakland was overwhelmed by the crisis, leaving staff working to solve the problem without proper training or resources, according to the report. It is . I used to frequently take my kids in the stroller on this walk but now in addition to being . Meanwhile, Council Member Carroll Fife, who represents the district that includes the Wood Street encampment, has directed the city administration to study creating an emergency shelter for 1,000 people on a section of the former Oakland Army Base. Brigitte Nicoletti, an attorney assisting residents in their pro se lawsuit, reiterated that request at the hearing on Friday. The city needs to fund a formal encampment management program to implement the policy passed in October, and to address the findings of the audit, the auditors office wrote. OAKLAND, Calif. ( KRON) Caltrans announced in a press release Friday that it will shut down the homeless encampment on Wood Street. Antioch council to discuss new liquor stores ban, homeless housing. The encampment is one of the. 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The plaintiffs asked that the eviction be enjoined because of a lack of shelter beds, heavy winter rains, and the continued prevalence of Covid and other viruses. Grappling with homelessness, California weighs extending foster care for 5 years We are hard at work implementing that policy amidst a historic budget shortfall, staffing shortages, and an ongoing pandemic that has limited the shelter options available to the residents of our encampments, the statement continued. Determine findings that will prompt EMT intervention; Provide guidance on addressing unreasonable health and safety risks, promoting voluntary compliance, and strategies to address non-compliance. Homeless Encampment at 9418 Edes Ave Oakland, CA, 94603, USA: Im a community member and my street is getting full of RV and abandoned cars for many months now. That order was dissolved about a month later, when the city said it was set to open a new tiny home site near the encampment, and a safe parking site in East Oakland for people living in RVs. Caltrans crews wait to clear the Wood Street encampment in Oakland on Sept. 8, 2022, while residents and advocates block the road. (KRON4 News) OAKLAND ( KRON) - A two-alarm fire in an Oakland homeless . Oakland Workers continued Monday to clear the massive homeless encampment along Wood Street in West Oakland. The Oakland Fire . They're looking to make us homeless. Ramona Choyce lost everything in a fire in March at the encampment, which has seen several blazes in the past year. OAKLAND, CA - MAY 5: A homeless encampment is photographed on a plot of land along East 12th Street and 1st Avenue on Wednesday, May 5, 2021, in Oakland, Calif. The controversial policy was approved by the City Council last year, but it's largely gone unenforced. The transportation agency said in a release they will begin shutting down the entire encampment in phases beginning July 20 and will work with city officials and the county to place people in alternate shelter. LA CITY COUNCIL GREENLIGHTS BAN ON HOMELESS ENCAMPMENTS 500 FEET FROM SCHOOLS, DAYCARE CENTERS Though Newsom's handling of the Oakland matter was worded authoritatively, the governor has also. Aric Crabb has been a staff photographer at the Bay Area News Group since 1998. "What I have tried to do is create a possibility of relocation in a way that is the least harmful to the people who live on Wood Street," he said at the hearing. To learn more about how we use your information, please read our privacy policy. Review and respond annually to the City's Homeless Encampment Policy and the Permanent Access to Housing Path Plan which shall be presented to the Commission, as well as hear reports on the housing, programs, and services for persons experiencing homelessness in the City including, but not limited to. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Housing | That site reportedly contained a communal area used to organize donations and cook group meals several nights a week as well as "pop-up clinics, regular open mics, and other community town hall events.". Caltrans crews remove a vehicle from the Wood Street encampment in West Oakland on July 19, 2022. hese are vehicles of human beings," he said at the hearing, "and they are not to be lost. #2. portland oregon created those "affordable housing" by tearing down most of the old hotels or remodeling them. She previously covered startups and venture capital for the Bay Area News Group and prior to that court cases for The Recorder in San Francisco. Driven by a housing crisis and continuing economic inequality that hits Oakland's most vulnerable. The expert behind the report compared it to the poorest places in the world, decried the lack of access to clean water and toilets, and said the rodent infestations, fire dangers and other hazards should be quickly addressed. The result is a shuffling with no long-term strategy on how to get people into more permanent, supportive housing. Oakland police towed several vehicles parked by a homeless camp near the Fruitvale Home Depot on Thursday, as part of a cleanup and closure operation. City leaders say the encampment which spans property owned by the city, railroads and various government agencies is a crisis, but officials havent cleared it, arguing they dont have enough shelter beds for everyone. OAKLAND - Fire swept through a homeless encampment near the MacArthur Maze highway interchange in West Oakland on Monday morning. Credit: Darwin BondGraham. It is both a humanitarian duty and a civic expectation that our homeless become housed, and our City streets and parks are returned to their intended public uses.. Three days later, a group of encampment residents sued Caltrans, the governor, Oakland and a number of public officials in federal court, alleging that their forced removal from the site would constitute an unconstitutional "state created danger" and place them at a high degree of risk because there were not adequate shelter options for them in Oakland. 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Ideally, the auditors office wrote, those calls should have been responded to in 10 to 15 minutes. Walters: Is ending Californias homelessness just a matter of money? Staff Attorneys will primarily . Gov. Oakland mayor appoints former Compton city manager as Interim City Administrator . That injunction was dissolved in phases, beginning in August of 2022, giving residents more time to find other alternatives. But Oakland only has 598-city-funded, year-round shelter beds and an estimated homeless population of 4,000 as of 2019 with nearly 80% of those unsheltered. Since the restraining order was issued, another 12 fires have broken out on the site, Orrick said at the hearing. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group), OAKLAND, CA - SEPTEMBER 26: Community members move a motorcycle to a trailer at the Wood Street homeless encampment on Monday, Sept. 26, 2022, in Oakland, Calif. Caltrans is overseeing the cleanup of its property along Wood Street. The Rise of Homeless Encampments in Oakland As reported to Public Works The Rise of Homeless Encampments in Oakland As reported to Public Works The Anti-Eviction Mapping Project is a data visualization, counter-cartography, and digitial storytelling collective documenting dispossession and resistance upon gentrifying landscapes. For now, it appears that camp residents will have at least another long weekend at the park before the standoff continues. Additionally, the Commission shall be requested to publish reports regarding the following: Canceled - Commission on Homelessness Meeting, Commission on Homelessness - Bylaws and Rules of Procedure. Oakland which has more than 5,000 homeless people currently has 598 year-round, city-funded shelter beds, 313 community cabin and temporary structure shelter spaces, 147 RV safe parking spaces and 353 city-funded transitional-shelter beds. The encampment spans nearly 25 city blocks with about 300 people living under freeways in tents, RVs and makeshift shelters amid burned-out vehicles, mounds of trash and dirt. Thursday evening, representatives from the city of Oakland submitted a plan for a phased closure of the site, beginning at its northernmost edge, where a fire on July 11 sent plumes of black smoke onto the 880 overpass.