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PORTLAND, Ore. (KPTV) – Mayor Ted Wheeler expanded the emergency declaration prohibiting camping to include camping on key walking routes for K-12 schools, Friday.
The original emergency declaration, issued February 4, prohibited camping within high crash transportation corridors like highways to help reduce deaths and injuries among Portland’s houseless population.
The emergency declaration announced Friday expanded the original declaration to ban camping around school buildings and along priority routes to and from school.
“With limited resources, and heightened demand for services, we must prioritize to help ensure the safety of vulnerable populations in Portland, such as those experiencing homelessness and school-age children,” said Mayor Ted Wheeler in a statement.
With the start of the school year approaching, the declaration gives the Impact Reduction Program the right to post and remove camps in the designated area with no right of return.
Mayor Ted Wheeler expanded the emergency declaration prohibiting camping to include camping on key walking routes for K-12 schools, Friday.
“School-age children should be able to walk, bike, and ride buses to get to and from schools without potentially dangerous hazards as a result of encampments, including trash, tents in the right-of-way, biohazards, hypodermic needles, and more,” said Wheeler.
“Homeless Portlanders deserve our help and compassion. We have made record investments to provide services to Portlanders experiencing homelessness and worked to improve our services with the Street Services Coordination Center (SSCC). Most homeless Portlanders do not pose a risk to others—but that is not always the case—and that is why I’m taking these actions today.”
The routes where camping is prohibited can be found on the Safe Routes Planning Projects website.
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