CINCINNATI — A push to remove homeless camps in Burnet Woods is receiving push back from some residents and homeless outreach organizations.
The issue is expected to come up for discussion at a Clifton Town Meeting (CTM) Monday night.
CTM President Gérald Checco penned a letter to the Cincinnati Park Board, noting that encampments in the park make people reluctant to visit Burnet Woods, “as they fear for their safety.”
It’s not clear if the letter has already been sent, or is still in draft form pending review of the full community council.
In the letter, Checco asks the board to provide help in removing encampments from Burnet Woods.
“I know that homelessness is a big problem and dealing with it has many complications,” Checco wrote in the letter. “As a first step in dealing with this we have a suggestion. This is that park staff, with police officers, carefully walk through the park to identify encampments, post them appropriately as required by law to notify whoever is living there that their possessions will be removed, and after sufficient time has passed, remove the encampments. And this would have to be repeated several times to give people the message that camping in the park will not be permitted.”
Local advocacy groups have pushed back against the suggestion.
“It doesn't make the problem go away, it just makes it go,” said Noam Barnard, Executive Director, of Coalition for Community Safety.
Barnard leads outreach efforts in the area multiple times a week.
“A lot of the folks that are the subject of this concern are folks that I know on a first-name basis,” he said.
He estimates there are between 15 to 20 people who sleep in the park.
“They're humans, just like you and me,” Barnard said. “It’s not fair to treat somebody that's already in a marginalized place in their life or experiencing extreme hardships, and then to go through and say, ‘These are terrible people.’”
Barnard plans to attend the community council meeting Monday to make his voice heard. Josh Spring, executive director of the Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition, plans to attend too.
“It looks very much like police, armed people coming in and saying, ‘Well, you can't be here.’” Spring said. “What does that feel like? What does it feel like to lose your home in your city?”
Spring said clearing encampments can have consequences for homeless individuals.
“If you've formed a relationship with outreach workers, or maybe you work a job that's nearby where you're sleeping at night, or you've formed a relationship with other people that live in that neighborhood, all that kind of gets thrown upside down.”
Barnard said the action often pushes homeless individuals into other areas.
“You still got to sleep somewhere,” he said. “So they end up around the corner. They end up in the park, down the street somewhere else.”
As for other solutions, Barnard said he and other agencies are prepared to offer a more aggressive outreach commitment to serve residents experiencing hardships.
Signs against the proposal have been taped up around the park, urging residents to speak out at Monday’s meeting.
WCPO approached several people in the park Sunday. Most said they were not concerned about homeless encampments in the park.
“If you really go off the path on some little distant corners, you might see some remnants of a camp,” said Darshan McMahon. “They're not really in anyone's way.”
One person told our WCPO crew they tended to avoid the park because it could be “sketchy.”
WCPO reached out to the community council by email Sunday afternoon, but had not received a response by late Sunday night.
Residents can voice their thoughts at Monday’s community council meeting. It starts at 7 p.m. at the Clifton Recreation Center and online at this link. You can view the meeting agenda and request to speak here.
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