City of Austin staff revealed 45 city-owned sites that could serve as places for unhoused people to camp legally. The goal is to open at least 10, with one in each Council district. I threw together a map visualizing where the campsites could be located.
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I used the info in this presentation to make the map. Note that some of the descriptions are unclear (e.g. Colony Park and Circle C, which are not just fixed addresses). Some I was able to figure out based on what properties I know the city already owns in a given area.
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also if you know how to overlap a map of Council districts on top of this...let me know. I don't want to figure out how to do it on my own lol. Better yet, a map of the vote breakdown on Prop B. That would be interesting to see.
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whoops, I forgot to link to the staff presentation with the location info. Here it is austintexas.gov/edims/document
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Homeless Strategy Officer Dianna Grey says this photo of a sanctioned encampment in Denver illustrates how Austin wants to have "some uniformity" in the types of shelters allowed at campsites so better control what materials are allowed there and to better manage site upkeep.
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These are the services staff are considering at the campsites. Anyone who does homeless outreach will tell you storage space is basic infrastructure. If people have to leave their stuff behind, they're just not going to go. For some people, the same goes for pet accommodations.
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Grey says the most common challenge in cities that have opened designated campsites is that they may be envisioned as temporary solutions, but are difficult to decommission once opened. Staff relayed the same concern to Council in 2019 when they first studied sanctioned campsites
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Parks and Recreation Department Director Kimberly McNeely said the sites span 2 acres per 50 people.
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McNeely also said that proximity to schools was a consideration. She didn't outright say if a site was close to a school it would be a negative for that site, and I haven't checked to see what schools are near each site, but it will definitely me a complaint lodged by NIMBYs.
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McNelly reveals just how preliminary this list of 45 sites is in reality. Referencing Colony Park, which is already master planned, she said, "It’s on the list but lots of research needs to be done to determine if this is an appropriate property to consider."
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Council Member Ann Kitchen says, "I would express a great deal of concern over the area in my district," because of wildfire risk and the threat that would post to existing neighborhoods. Mary Moore Searight is "completely inappropriate in several areas," she says.
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Kitchen adds that she just wanted to get that on the record in case anyone looking at the list was concerned. Presumably, she is talking about the housed people in her district.
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CM Pio Renteria tells staff, "don't bother" to even look at 1311 Tillery Street, because it is the site of the Evergreen Cemetery.
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CM Vanessa Fuentes asks why the proposed lists of sites excludes "park" from the names, such as with Walter E. Long, Roy G. Guerrero, etc. She says there is already mistrust within the community over the city's response to homelessness, and this may not help.
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Who will be the first Council Member to raise their hand and say, "hey great suggestion staff, that site in my district works perfectly!" Thus far, they've basically all just been like, "ummm excuse me what were you thinking"
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It's depressing watching the usual suspect Council Members take their turn repeating that the list of sites is preliminary, because it so obviously serves as a signal to their constituents who don't want unhoused people living near them, legally or illegally.
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I mean, it's obvious why CMs feel required to participate in this ritual. People voted for Prop B so they wouldn't have to see homeless people anymore, not so they could live next to them in open-air encampments.
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The dismay some CMs have shared over staff daring to recommend parkland for campsites is naive bordering on disingenuous. They gave staff 2 weeks to find land in every part of the city to relocate thousands of people and their belongings. Where were they supposed to look?
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CM Kathie Tovo says staff should set clear opening and closing dates for sanctioned campsites to communicate to the public that they will, in fact, be temporary. Goals should be set on housing people in camps.
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CM Leslie Pool asks what would happen to programming at recreation centers if they were chosen as sites. "If any rec center is a location...it would severely restrict public access," McNeely says. "It would absolutely impact ability to run after school or summer camp programming"
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Pool: "I don’t see a path forward on the rec centers.: She adds "the sites you’ve designated in District 7 don’t meet the criteria, they just won’t work."
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Of all the unserious sites on this list, the rec centers were the most absurd, right? Like there's no way the freaking Austin Rec Center was going to be turned into a temporary shelter for people experiencing homelessness. It's practically a farce.
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Tovo now says the resources staff has proposed at designated campsites is making them too expensive. She suggests staff consider cutting laundry, meals, and services.
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Grey: "It is obviously a substantial cost…part of the consideration there is about ability to maintain the health and safety of that environment." You can't have safe and dignified sites without diverting $$$ from permanent solutions. That's the whole point of not doing them!
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Campsite discussion is done. Staff will present another report to Council by June 1 with an implementation schedule, final cost estimates, and ways to pay for them.
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