Tent Encampments
Recently, neighbors have reported that tents and tent encampments have begun appearing in the area. In particular, the encampment near Waller and Shrader Streets has garnered a great deal of attention. Since the appearance of tents on sidewalks is rare in our neighborhood, and in light of increased concerns about the spread of COVID-19 in public spaces, we wanted to update our members and the greater community on the situation, including ways to get the homeless individuals into a designated and organized space where it’s easier to ensure social distancing, offer services and (hopefully) be fast-tracked into hotel rooms.
Summary
Local homeless advocates have been distributing tents for those living on the street in the Upper Haight.
There is no designated location for these tents.
SFPD expects there to be increases in tents and encampments in the coming weeks and months.
The City, including SFPD, is not confiscating tents or asking homeless people to relocate.
The City is asking homeless people to maintain social distancing and refrain from illegal activities.
Residents are encouraged to report encampments to 311 so that they may be identified and the City can arrange for social services, trash pickup, sidewalk cleaning, etc.
Proposed Solution: The Cole Valley Improvement Association is proposing that the blacktop space and basketball courts in the Panhandle Park be made available as a temporary sanctioned tent site during the shelter in place, and is reaching out to Buena Vista Neighborhood Association and Haight Ashbury Improvement Association to ask for their support.
Background
In late March, local homeless advocates and the Homeless Youth Alliance began collecting tents for distribution to people living on the street. These advocates made public requests for tents and distributed them in the greater Upper Haight. To our knowledge, there was no plan or coordinated effort with the City for where these tents would be set up. As a result, they’ve been increasingly appearing on residential streets, such as Waller.
City Response
During this pandemic, the number of available shelter beds for the homeless has dwindled. Thankfully, the City recently announced that it will purchase over 7,000 hotel rooms (with talks to increase to 8,500) to house front-line workers and homeless people, but it will take some time for the logistics to be worked out and homeless people moved into the rooms (if they voluntarily agree to do so).
Captain Renee Pagano of Park Station confirmed that her officers have received increased reports of tent encampments, which is a new development as SFPD historically has very rarely received reports of tents on the sidewalk in our area. Since the tents are continuing to be handed out, she expects residents will see “significantly more tents showing up” in the coming weeks and months. Captain Pagano also shared that her officers are not confiscating tents or asking people to move.
Until further notice, SFPD Park Station officers and other City agencies are adhering to the guidelines provided by the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing in conjunction with the Healthy Street Operations Center, which includes the rules below. This is to improve public health and safety during the shelter in place.
Do not take or remove tents.
SFPD may still address criminal activity in encampments.
The City should collect garbage at encampments.
Ask people to stay one per tent and keep tents six feet apart.
Educate people on COVID-19 and distribute a laminated flyer that was provided.
If residents have tents set up near their homes, please report it to 311 so that it may be catalogued and the City can organize resources such as social services and trash pickup, and call the SFPD non-emergency line (415-553-0123) if you witness illegal activities.
Neighborhood Reaction
The residents of our neighborhoods are not indifferent to the plight of people experiencing homelessness, especially during a pandemic. Our neighborhood has a long history with this subject matter, with opinions ranging from unequivocal support to lending help while emphasizing personal responsibility to strict law-and-order. Reactions to these new encampments have been mixed, with many of those that live closest to the encampments understandably being the most frustrated. Neighbors have reported issues such as lack of social distancing, public drug/alcohol use, urine/feces and other ancillary behavior.
For many, these encampments are intimidating and disruptive, especially in times of a pandemic and “shelter in place.” One family in particular noted that the sidewalk outside their home was their daughter’s only reprise from being inside all day because they have no backyard, but now their daughter is too afraid to play on their sidewalk outside their home because of the encampment. For seniors confined to a few local blocks due to mobility issues, this issue is even more pressing since those in the encampments have typically not been practicing social distancing.
Response from Supervisor Preston
Despite presumed good intentions from Homeless Youth Alliance and other homeless advocates, the distribution of tents without any plan for where they would be located has had the effect of solving one problem by creating a different one -- and forcing some residents to shoulder the consequences of well-intentioned (but potentially problematic) tent donations during an already difficult time. Earlier this year, Supervisor Dean Preston presented the Homeless Youth Alliance (HYA) with an official commendation from the City, and has long supported their efforts and those of other homeless advocates in our area.
We reached out to Supervisor Preston Thursday morning (April 9) to discuss this situation and seek his help. Although he has not yet responded to our urgent request, we intend to ask him the following questions:
Do you condone the distribution of these tents when there was no plan for where they would go?
If yes, will you take responsibility for current and future tent encampments (after the shelter in place concludes) in the Upper Haight where historically there hasn't been tents on the sidewalks?
How will you ensure that our neighborhood will not experience the negative side effects that have historically plagued encampments elsewhere in the City, such as loose trash, drug paraphernalia, feces, urine and criminal behavior?
If neighbors experience problems with those living in tents in front of their homes, how would you suggest they respond?
Proposed Solution
Background
Historically, on issues such as these, CVIA has taken a compassionate while pragmatic approach. That being said, even our own best intentions have not always succeeded. For example, in 2018 we provided a sizable donation (as well as several Cole Hardware gift cards) to the non-profit Taking It To The Streets SF, to help support their work of helping homeless young people in the Upper Haight move out of homelessness. Unfortunately, we were informed the following year that this organization was shut down by the City for “doing things they shouldn’t have been doing,” which is what we were told by then-supervisor Vallie Brown.
That is to say that even the best of intentions (including our own) are sometimes fraught. Recently, advocates have espoused the idea that we should “just provide anything” for homeless people, like a tent. However, without having somewhere safe for these tents to be placed, there is a burden placed on a subset of people who have to shoulder the consequences of having a tent encampment outside their home. We feel it is important to remain calm and make responsible decisions, especially when long-term impacts must be carefully considered.
Proposal
In light of the proliferation of tents in our neighborhood during this pandemic, coupled with the lack of social distancing and ancillary negative behavior witnessed thus far at encampments, we will be working with the City on the proposal below, and will be reaching out to the Haight Ashbury Improvement Association and Buena Vista Neighborhood Association for support.
Designate the blacktop area of the Panhandle Park, including the basketball courts, a temporary designated site for homeless people in tents until there is a room available for them at one of the City services.
While there are multiple potential locations, this one is ideal because (1) it’s already located near a public restroom, (2) it’s bound by two major thoroughfares (Fell and Oak) and removed from essential neighborhood services with heavy foot traffic, such as a grocery store, (3) it’s only a three minute walk to the corner of Haight & Ashbury, thus being close enough to areas with high homelessness for social workers to potentially convince this population to join the site, (4) its accessible to the Upper Haight, Lower Haight and NOPA, and (5) its location mitigates any potential negative “quality of life” side effects. There are other potential sites we would like to discuss with the City as well.
The former McDonald’s lot at 730 Stanyan was also considered, however, we do not believe that is a viable location for a number of reasons. Given that this is the site of permanent new affordable housing, which has been given priority construction, and the uncertainty regarding how long any tent encampment site might remain open after the shelter in place is lifted, we don’t believe selecting this location warrants potentially delaying the production of the 100% affordable housing development. Additionally, this location is in a high-traffic area that is more densely populated than the blacktop area of the Panhandle, as well as its very close proximity to the area’s largest grocery store.
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If you have any questions about this information, don’t hesitate to reach out to the Cole Valley Improvement Association at board@cviasf.org. Also, we encourage you to reach out to Supervisor Preston at Dean.Preston@sfgov.org.
Stay safe, everyone.
