Phoenix City Council approved site for unsheltered persons as a safe campground
 

PHOENIX - Phoenix City Council unanimously approved a site to host unsheltered persons for three years in an effort to clean up “The Zone.”

 

Wednesday, the council approved a low barrier site on the corner of 15th Avenue and Jackson Street. The site is temporary and has a special permit that will be revoked at the end of three years.

 

Council and staff are working to have the site open to clients in early fall. Requirements for the site include: a maximum of 300 people are allowed at the site at one time. A seven-member advisory committee will oversee happenings at the site. And, a phase-out plan to decamp from the site after the three-year period is up must be named and operational in the last year of site usage. 

 

The proposed site plan for the “safe outdoor space” includes restrooms with showers, indoor space for heat and cold relief, and no walk-up services provided on-site.

 

The Office of Homeless Solutions and operators of the site explained they have the same desires as the surrounding community.

 

“We want it to be operated well. We want to help people in their homelessness. We want to make sure there is no negative impact to the community. I do believe that on balance it will be a positive impact on the community because this is our tool to help us complete the process we are in right now to get people off of the streets,” said Deputy City Manager Gina Montes.

 

Surrounding communities, including neighborhood associations and property owners, up to one-and-a-half miles, will be notified of the site and will be sent a quarterly letter or email providing updates on the site's progression.

 

Members of the council and residents of District 7 voiced strong concern for the site but expressed feeling out of options for how to deal with the unsheltered epidemic. 

 

“This was not our first in how we chose to respond to the homelessness crisis. Our city has prioritized indoor shelter,” Phoenix Vice Mayor Yassamin Ansari said, “the fact that we brought 600 beds online last year and we have 800 more in the pipeline this year, I think is commendable but with competing lawsuits on the table and the fact that we really do need to show consistent improvement in the situation around the zone.”

 

Multiple lawsuits have been filed against the city of Phoenix in relation to the homeless encampment, “The Zone.” On Sept. 20, a ruling was passed on one of these lawsuits for the city to clean out the encampment.

 

Deed restrictions were discussed for the site, which would ensure the three-year limit and revoke the ability to renew the special permit. Staff of the Phoenix planning department do not recommend any deed restrictions. 

 

“Stipulations can change. Different council people can come in. Staff changes and there is no real way to ensure that three-year time limit that will really happen. A deed restriction was an idea that would put a legal framework in place that would make it stop at the end of three years,” said  Bill Morlan, resident and owner of Electric Supply Inc..

 

No deed restrictions were established at this city council meeting for the site.

 

Code of conduct for the site has not been finalized, but it was discussed by staff to include rules such as no drugs or alcohol and no visitors and consequences of violating those rules. These rules will be enforced by the city of Phoenix alongside the operators of the site and private security.

 

“I will support this item because we are under a court mandate to bring people in off the street of the zone and provide them some form of shelter. I can not understate my concerns about ensuring that these folks get help and are held accountable. That we have a sound definition of what success looks like,” said Council Member Ann O’Brien.

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Empowering Indigenous Youth: The Akimel O’odham/Pee-Posh Youth Council (AOPPYC) Paves the Way for Positive Change

 

The Akimel O’odham/Pee-Posh Youth Council is composed of 20 members, ages 13 to 21, two from each of the seven Gila River Indian Community districts and six representatives living outside the reservation.

 

Membership on this council offers young people opportunities for personal development, civic engagement and leadership building, and it opens young individuals to believe in their ability to enact positive change through mentorship and the construction of community events.

 

“They shaped who I am, how I take in all the culture and just learning more about the community as well. It helps me reassure myself in thinking I can do it. I am a member, and I am also a Native American, it's my right to also be a part here,” Caiden Lewis, treasurer of AOPPYC.

 

Members of Akimel O’odham/Pee-Posh Youth Council organize and put on engaging activities for local youth. 

 

Youth council members have district projects for local youths in each of the seven districts. These events include movie or game nights, basketball tournaments or bingo. 

 

Alongside these organized activities are monthly meetings and community cleanups. Locations for cleanups are chosen by the council based on requests from residents; taking the time to listen to residents brings positive feedback and gratitude, explained the council.

 

Bringing local youth together is the council's vision.

 

The council offers different positive opportunities to young communities enabling them to reach their full potential. These opportunities are targeted toward youth involved in difficult situations such as gang violence, drug abuse or unstable home lives.

 

75% of deaths in Native American youth, ages 1 to 19, are due to injuries and violence, according to the Assessment of Risk and Protection in Native American Youth.

 

“What we try to do is have these events so that way our youth come out and they're not making those bad decisions, and their time is filled with stuff like community service or our district projects,” said Sayuri Jackson, vice president of AOPPYC.

 

The council is currently planning their two-day youth conference in June where local youth can join in on workshops or listen to speakers on topics surrounding mental health, culture, education, or the environment.

 

This is the 36th annual youth conference. The conference started when the AOPPYC was established in 1988. The council was and still is a representative voice for the Gila River Indian Community, explained Roberto Jackson, director of the Gila River Communications & Public Affairs Office.

 

“It [the youth conference] kind of touches on the longevity of the youth council because it started in the 80s,” said Jackson. “It just goes to show that it's built up over the years and it continues on. These youth have been doing a great job of not only carrying on that tradition but adding their own little stamp on it.”

 

Over the years, council members have utilized their identities and perspectives to bring young people together for a positive impact on the community. 

 

After the youth conference, the council is looking forward to attending the United National Indian Tribal Youth Conference in Portland, Oregon. The conference, also known as UNITY, is a hands-on leadership development event for Native youth and advisers.

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Phoenix housing prices continue to soar

 

PHOENIX - Thinking about the year-round sun and the beautiful desert landscapes Arizona has to offer might just convince someone to move to Phoenix. Yet, behind the serene smokescreen of Arizona lifestyle lies scorchingly high housing prices.

 

As more people intrigued by the Arizona life pack their bags and leave behind their Canadian Goose puffer jackets, the more competitive the Phoenix housing market becomes.

 

High demand, also known as newly wedded couples ready to find their forever home in a conventional suburban neighborhood in the perfect school district, takes a toll on the housing building supply chain. 

 

Arizona has limited housing construction permits in the Phoenix area due to a lack of groundwater. The state’s lack of a sustainable source of water and its continuous incoming of wannabe new residents has led to a halt on home building causing these increasing housing costs.

 

“In October 2023, Phoenix home prices were up 1.1% compared to last year, selling for a median price of $440K. On average, homes in Phoenix sell after 37 days on the market compared to 51 days last year,” according to Redfin's analysis report on the Phoenix Housing Market.

 

Home prices are up 2.3% from last year which makes the current median sale cost of a home $438,200. The median costs are estimated to slowly increase over the next five years to just under $450,000.

 

As of October of 2023, there were 31,432 homes for sale in Arizona. Redfin estimated the average housing supply is down 22.4% from the previous year while demand continues to turn the housing market into the Hunger Games.

 

At a Gilbert City Council meeting in 2022, economist Elliott Pollack in a presentation explained the issues surrounding and being created by Arizona’s housing market. Pollack explains that market problems will affect everyone. 

 

Homeowners, home-buyers, home-sellers, the economic development community, and the construction industry all need to take notice of the issues within Arizona’s current housing market. 

 

“Affordability is falling but it’s about to plummet. There’s virtually no vacancy or available units. Supply has not kept paced with demand and our success as a community in attracting jobs and people has not been matched by a sufficient increase in the housing supply for those new employees and a continued shortage of housing is going to drive up costs and threaten economic development efforts,” Pollack said in his presentation.

 

Pollack touches on the Greater Phoenix apartment needs. According to Elliot D. Pollack & Company, a real estate consultant, 12 - 13,000 apartments need to be built for current demand, and the gap demand due to vacancy rates is about 2 - 3,000 apartments. 

 

These apartment deliveries have not been made which has caused the increased rates many apartment residents are experiencing. Many students attending Arizona State University struggle between the costs of rent or housing, working a job, and a full course load at the University.

 

Emily Young, a nursing student at ASU and a full-time employee at Emerald City Smoothie, tells the truth about supporting yourself through school while working.

 

“I don’t like to miss class because I am paying for it and want to be there of course but some days I skip class to pick up shifts. Paying rent just outweighs going to class sometimes. There isn’t much I can do about it,” Young said.

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Judge alters injunction in the Fund for Empowerment vs. the City of Phoenix case 

 

PHOENIX - On October 17, 2023, the court amended the preliminary injunction due to a recent change by the Ninth Circuit. 

 

The preliminary injunction prohibits the city from enforcing camping and sleeping bans to an extent, preventing seizure of property without notice, and forbidding the city from destroying property during raids.

 

Now, the city can not enforce camping and sleeping bans if there are no other public areas or appropriate shelters where those individuals can stay. The order previously prohibited the city from enforcing the camping and sleeping bans as long as there were more unhoused people than shelter beds. 

 

Fund for Empowerment’s suit aims to protect the constitutional rights of unsheltered people in Phoenix while challenging the City of Phoenix’s practices and interactions with unsheltered people.

 

Members of Fund for Empowerment, a non-profit civil rights advocacy organization, and other individuals lodged a lawsuit against the City of Phoenix on Nov. 30, 2022. 

 

Under judgment, in this case, are the city’s practices of seizing and destroying unsheltered individuals' property, issuing criminal or civil citations to unsheltered individuals for camping and sleeping on public property when there are no alternative options, and conducting sweeps of encampments without notice.

 

The American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona filed the lawsuit against the city on behalf of the Fund for Empowerment. The ACLU is a non-profit human rights organization that challenges intolerance around the nation.

 

“We hope to permanently ensure that the constitutional rights of the unhoused are protected in the City of Phoenix and that the City shows compassion and upholds the dignity of individuals when interacting with those experiencing homelessness. We also hope this lawsuit spurs lawmakers to work toward long-term solutions to homelessness that do not rely on the criminalization of poverty,” said Jared Keenan, the legal director of the ACLU and attorney for the plaintiffs. 

 

Many unhoused individuals surrounding and in ‘The Zone’, have stated, including in the case, that the city knowingly pushed unhoused people into this space for years.

 

“When I was staying in the Sunnyslope area, police told me to go to ‘The Zone’. After I moved locations, I had another confrontation with police. I believe this was the police’s way of shepherding me into ‘The Zone’,” said Faith Kearns, an individual plaintiff, in her declaration.

 

Fund for Empowerment and their attorneys fear that their court-issued injunction relating to property destruction will not be followed during ‘The Zone’ cleanout that is set to be finished this month.

 

The overall hope for this case from the plaintiffs is they want those experiencing houselessness to be treated humanely and with respect. Also, for houseless individuals to be a part of the public and political conversation. 

 

“The City of Phoenix walked away from settlement negotiations earlier this year and has continued to confiscate (and possibly destroy) the property of unhoused people without following its own storage protocol,” said Leah Watson, senior staff attorney at ACLU and attorney for plaintiffs. 

 

The Office of Homeless Solutions said they could not comment on the pending litigation. 

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Judge sides with residents and business owners to clear ‘The Zone’ out by November 4

 

PHOENIX - Maricopa Judge Scott Blaney’s ruling, on behalf of the Plaintiffs, has prohibited the City of Phoenix from “continuing to maintain” ‘The Zone’. In addition, the city has been ordered to remove all tents and structures by Nov. 4 and they must maintain removal of tents, biohazards, and crime. 

 

The lawsuit was filed by residents and business owners in the area due to the encampment impacting their quality of life. Residents and owners in the area surrounding ‘The Zone’ refer to it as a “public nuisance” that has been created and maintained by the city. 

 

 ‘The Zone’ is Phoenix's largest homeless encampment, it sits on the blocks near the social service building downtown. At one point, the encampment held over 1,000 people.

 

The City of Phoenix has begun its effort to clear ‘The Zone’ and works to meet deadlines.

 

“The city created a plan to address the area holistically and strategically, one block at a time to ensure we could offer every individual we engage with an indoor space while addressing the concerns of the community. To date, the City has addressed 11 blocks, with four remaining,” the Office of Homeless Solutions said in a written statement on Oct. 18.

 

The Office of Homeless Solutions expresses commitment to adhering to the court orders. Since May, 260 people accepted placement in an indoor shelter or treatment facility during engagement days.

 

Bill Morlan is the president of Electric Supply, Inc. and chairman at Central Arizona Shelter Services. Morlan’s business Electric Supply, Inc. sits in ‘The Zone’ two blocks from the Human Services Campus.

 

“My general thoughts are it's a good thing,” Morlan said, “we all as a society, as a community can do better than this.”

 

No one benefits from people sleeping on the street, not the people on the streets and not the community, explained Morlan. He views the ruling as an opportunity for houseless people to be in a better place than ‘The Zone’. 

 

Temporary shelter and beds seem to be the current mainline out of ‘The Zone’. According to the U.S. Census, in 2022 Arizona has five out of the 15 fastest-growing cities and towns in the country.

 

Considerment of the housing affordability crisis is absent in the court ruling. 

 

Elizabeth Venable, co-founder of Fund for Empowerment, believes the carryout of the court orders could be difficult. 

 

“This is very difficult for the city base. As I said, they haven't long-term invested in housing. So sometimes they just don't have space for people and so it makes it very complicated for the city,” Venable said.

 

The lack of time and housing has the potential for poor management to adhere to the court orders. 

 

Venable explained in the past there have been violations of an injunction relating to houseless people’s property. Repeated patterns of tossing belongings instead of storing them have led to the Fund for Empowerments suit against the City of Phoenix as well.