Portland Homeless: Lawsuit Charges Camping Policy Illegal

Calling the city's policy of allowing camping by homeless people "misguided and unlawful," a coalition of neighborhood associations and businesses are asking a judge to rule it illegal.

The group - including the Overlook and Pearl District Neighbor Associations along with the Portland Business Alliance and Cartlandia, the food cart pod -call themselves Safe and Livable Portland.

They filed the suit Wednesday in Multnomah County Court.

The policy was enacted in February unilaterally by Mayor Charlie Hales.

The suit maintains there should have been public testimony and a vote by the city council.

The Mayor's Office has maintained that he had the authority to make the new rules because he oversees homeless policy through his oversight of the police bureau.

According to the suit, the mayor's police allows homeless people to:

1. camp on sidewalks throughout the city, in groups of as many as six with tarps and sleeping bags;
2. set up tents on City right of way areas from 9 p.m. through 7 p.m.; and
3. set up organized encampments.

The city now has three established homeless camps: Right 2 Dream, Too; Dignity Village, and Hazelnut Grove.

The coalition wants the judge to rule that Hales overstepped his authority and order the policy withdrawn.

The lawsuit is a different twist on the way homeless policy is usually argued in the courts in Portland.

Instead of homeless advocates arguing the city is not doing enough to help people in need, this time residents are saying the city is turning its back on existing laws.

There are believed to be approximately 1,800 homeless people in Portland.