It’s been almost a year since business owners near the largest homeless encampment in Phoenix sued the city. The judge ruled in their favor, but that was only the beginning.
Suddenly, all eyes are on the multi-block cluster of tents and self-made structures that, by some estimates, housed up to a thousand people.
Both parties are in court this week, and the business owners are saying the city isn’t moving fast enough to remove the encampment.
At issue is “The Zone,” which is what everybody calls the cluster of tents and shelters made of palettes, sun-faded blankets and tarps that’s been clustered around the Human Services Campus downtown for years.
I spoke to a woman who goes by ‘Chica’ who lives here. We’re only using her first name because she’s worried she could be attacked for talking to a reporter.
Chica used to be a nurse. After her husband died, she became unhoused and ended up in the ‘Zone.’
“I’m a 50-year-old grandmother of nine,” Chica said. “I don’t want to be here.”
Phoenix is in the midst of what could be a record breaking heat wave. The pavement where people pitch tents can reach 180 degrees.
Chica said part of how she gets by is selling sodas. She has been the victim of violence here, most recently a few days before we met.
“This has got to be a living hell,” Chica said. “I want my house, and I want to get the hell off this f---ing street.”
Violence and crime are a reason downtown Phoenix businesses and property owners sued the city last year.
Testifying Monday Freddy Brown, who owns a funeral supply business here, said "The Zone" is a public nuisance, and Phoenix is responsible for abating it.
“Violence is an every day theme,” Brown said. “Be it from just fistfights, people yelling, screaming. I’ve actually provided Phoenix Police Department with video of people brandishing weapons toward other people in and around my business.”
In March, a Maricopa County judge sided with plaintiffs and ordered the city to clear "The Zone." And he gave it until this week to show progress.
Rachel Milne directs Phoenix’s Office of Homeless Solutions. She said the city is dedicated to moving the homeless encampment, and it’s part of why her office was created.
“I would say the city is committed to doing this regardless of an injunction,” Milne said.
But people are becoming homeless faster than Phoenix can provide shelters or housing.
Still, in May, to comply with the court order, the city started clearing streets and moving anyone willing to go indoors. It’s been doing it a block at time, clearingone block roughly every three weeks.
“Given the number of people in the area, taking it one block at a time allows us to address the needs of those individuals [in] that one space,” Milne said.
In court this week, the business owners said the city isn’t moving fast enough, and they don’t think its overall plan will work either. That plan is to create a structured outdoor campabout a block away, with the goal to open in September. The city says there will be security there, and a place for people to camp legally, and will offer indoor space to cool off.
This week’s hearings ended Tuesday, and the judge is expected to rule quickly on whether Phoenix is making adequate progress in clearing the camp.
Back on the street, where news travels largely by word of mouth, people who live in "The Zone" feel out of the loop. Like 68-year-old George Rice.
“I’ll put it like this,” Rice said. “We’re at our wits’ end because our backs are against the wall.”
He said people feel frustrated, like they’re not included in the decision making process.
“We wasn’t privy to what was said and how this [had] come about,” Rice said.
In downtown Phoenix, it’s clear that change is coming — but what exactly that means for people living on the streets, and the property owners who sued to have them removed is still not clear.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated to reflect the projected opening date of the structured camp, as well as the duration of court proceedings.
