By GARRET JAROS/YachatsNews
YACHATS – A group advising Yachats on homeless issues is recommending the city add four sites where camping would be banned — sites originally identified as the only city-owned property where camping might be allowed.
These include properties next to water reservoirs in neighborhoods east of Highway 101 and a previously favored designated camping area near the Yachats wastewater treatment plant.
The city posted a “no camping” sign on the Little Log Church Museum a week ago and had a Lincoln County Sheriff’s deputy inform the man who has camped there for months that he needed to leave within 72 hours.
The group’s latest recommendation – including the no camping sign – came after a strong citizen reaction to the list of four properties where homeless camping had not been banned.
“We did hear the worry and the concern and the fear and there’s some really valid points that were brought up about the fire risks and things like that regarding having any set locations on city property up on the hill and near water tanks and city infrastructure,” said city manager Bobbi Price, who chairs the work group.
The advisory group is also recommending the city invest in social services in collaboration with a non-profit group that leaders of Yachats Community Presbyterian Church and other community members are in the process of forming. The church already operates a busy food pantry and a cold weather emergency shelter.
The group further recommended looking at supporting a bond measure to help fund those social services.
Another recommendation was to have Price confer with the city’s attorney about how small communities who lack “resources, tax base, or land” can operate within the state law that stipulates camping on public property is legal when no shelter is available – with the caveat cities can determine which properties to make available – if they have a camping ordinance.
The law, which went into effect last July, does not require cities to have a camping ordinance. But without one they have limited legal recourse on removing campers from any public property.
“Can communities like ours be considered one with Lincoln County, where they and each city have contributed to investment in warming shelters, beds, and transitional housing?” asked the work group, which was detailed in the city manager’s report to the city council this week.
The advisory group’s recommendations would leave the city without any locations where camping would be allowed.
Price said she has met with the city attorney to discuss options.
“It was an eye-opening conversation really, for how we can do this,” she said. “And he gave, really mostly examples on what other communities are doing and what’s happening state-wide.”
One option is to follow suit with Waldport and others which make public where camping is prohibited but not where it is allowed.
“And there are pros and cons to that,” Price said. “You can end up chasing somebody around from here-to-here-to-here saying ‘oh, you can’t camp here, oh you can’t camp here.’”
Another option proposed by the attorney was to designate an unsupervised site, which has the benefit of people in the community knowing where the homeless can camp, or having a supervised camp.
There are other towns that have supervised sites. But Price said CIS Oregon, the statewide insurer of municipalities, does not encourage city staff to manage those camps, but instead contract with churches and other non-profits.
It is premature to say how this will all shake out for the city, Price said, because the camping ordinance and how to administer it is in its nascent stage.
“We are not in a place where we are saying ‘This is this’ or ‘This is not this’,” she said. “We are still working out the kinks of this ordinance. We really are. And there are some creative ideas that are coming up but it’s too premature to bring those to council and say this is our suggestion.”
Finally, the advisory group also suggested pursuing a sheriff’s contract deputy for Yachats while also seeking a long-term funding solution.
“No camping” at church
The sign was posted at the Little Log Church Museum on May 9, and a sheriff’s deputy advised the man who has been camping there throughout the winter that he needed to collect his belongings and leave within 72 hours.
The 48-year-old man, who goes by Brooks, remains camped at the museum a week later.
Brooks has been coming to Yachats approximately seven years and says he keeps himself and the area clean, helps with the landscaping and tells other would-be campers they are not allowed to be there. And then he shared his opinion on why other houseless travelers have been coming to Yachats looking to camp.
“A lot of people are getting run out of Portland and (dispersing) to places like Newport and Florence,” he said. “And then some traveling kids put on Facebook ‘Come to Yachats, there’s no cops. And there’s a whole bunch of rich people.’”
Brooks said he will obey the order to vacate, perhaps visit family in Washington where his aging father is living. But he also made a plea to the community.
“If you know anybody who has an extra shed, I’ll work their property, like how I’ve been staying here and working the grounds.”
“I want to let the community know that I am thankful back,” Brooks said. “Please just don’t pull the rug out from under me.”
- Garret Jaros is YachatsNews’ full-time reporter and can be reached at GJaros@YachatsNews.com
It’s about time. We seem to have an abundance of this element who does not pay taxes, work, or contribute to the community. The county needs to address squatters in the woods and vacant lots around here especially as fire danger increases with the warmer weather.
A 69 old tourist was just killed in the parking lot while staying at the Ashley Inn on 5/14/24 by a transient trying to take his leashed dog away from him. The transient told the tourist that the dog would be better with him. (The tourist and his wife were celebrating their 37th anniversary.) The wife fought to get the dog back from the transient and the transient is in jail. Thank God he was caught. The homeless need mental help first and public land should only be used from dawn to dusk. That’s what the signs should say. And enforce the no camping at night on public property. Lincoln County and the beautiful coastal towns need to quit enabling the homeless. There should only be short-term camping in designated campsites and no temporary or long-term housing facilities. It will ruin quality of life for the residents and the tourists will quit coming to the coast. Save the funding for where it’s really needed.
Please understand that the homeless issues of South County are far more complex than the simple anoiences of the transient population visible within the city limits .
We have a substantial number of homeless families living off grid and unprotected from peril and many of these families constitute single women and children .
We have a growing meth problem which rightfully frightens our citizens however we also have a long standing ” hobo ” population steeped in the essence of our community culture and this population is a vast and untapped source of generational history .
Let ‘s be real with each other . Your concern is not for the homeless it is for the affluent property owners and for the image we present to ” the tourist industry .
We have now reached the point that turning the vagrants away from our doors in hopes that they will move onto other places is no longer viable . There is now far to many homeless people coming here and far far to many of our own citizens being displaced from the meager housing available .
We must establish a shelter style transients housing facility capable of caring and protecting the vulnerable members of our population otherwise you are likely going to victimize the people who are harmless while doing nothing to protect the community from threat.
Traditionally the South County has shown a unique and well run social services net work that has grown organicly from within the south county itself and these are the groups you need to be supporting and empowering. If you want to see lasting and meaningful change .
Or, remove things that attract the homeless. Services are available elsewhere. I am against being taxed for “social services” at the city level thet encourage more issues..
As Brooks said, “A lot of people are getting run out of Portland and (dispersing) to places like Newport and Florence,” he said. “And then some traveling kids put on Facebook ‘Come to Yachats, there’s no cops. And there’s a whole bunch of rich people.’”
Meth (and heroin to a lesser degree) has been a long standing problem in Oregon, particularly rural Oregon. In 2011, Rob Bovett (past DA of Lincoln county) was substantially involved in the passage of an Oregon law that strongly regulates pseudoepiphedrine, then an ingredient in many OTC decongestants, restrictions and is/was used in the manufacture of meth. Other ingredients had access to them reduce or restricted/limted. https://www.npr.org/2011/07/04/137599050/oregon-finds-fighting-meth-is-a-changing-battle Note the NPR article is from 2011 and meth–and home meth labs– had been a problem for quite some time. Some people end up using because (1) living outside is uncomfortable, difficult more likely to become ill with pneumonia, etc, and has you’ve made very clear, (2) makes you disliked and feared by many, or unhoused people feel shame, etc. (3) they are afraid of being attacked at night, so they walk or otherwise stay awake all night, sleep/rest during the day.
Perhaps you might also remember that some of those who are homeless, became addicted to opioids thanks to work place injuries and their health care provider (as well as the excellent/successful marketing of their pain meds by the Sackler family), who prescribed medications for too long and long enough to create addiction.
Some of the homeless people you seem to be referring to are veterans, some of whom may suffer from PTSD or other results of their servicem some are disabled, SSI and , sometimes, SSDI benefits, may not be enough to pay rent on even a studio apartment in Yachats, Waldport or Newport. All getting Social Security disability benefits may do is put one a little higher up on a list for housing, or a section 8 subsidy that many landlords won’t accept.
There are also many children/people under the age of 18 in Lincoln county who are classified as homeless. Most still try to attend school.
Well said
The person who committed the murder was not homeless. He was staying in the same hotel as the victim..
Not clean; still drunk every day. Still causes problems, he isn’t respectful. Still there drinking with other people that come in out of the neighborhood from the bus stop. Been more than 72 hours and still living in front of the church.
Raise taxes again? Where is there relief for property owners? Our city leaders need to decide what is absolutely necessary to fund vs what they would like. Do they want to make the rest of us homeless? Inflation is happening.
Why is the homeless lady allowed to live in the building at the cemetery? Why is Brooks allowed to build on the old log church? The conversations about the danger in the community regarding housed vs. unhoused is ludicrous. They are breaking the law, at some point that has to matter.
I am a little surprised by the utter lack of compassion for the homeless displayed in comments here.
Welcome to Yachats — aka Little Portland. Stop coddling the homeless around here and pandering to their needs. I literally live across the street from the Log Cabin Church (10 feet away) and every day personally witness public drunkenness, assaults (both physical and verbal), open drug use (and I’m not talking about marijuana), public urination/defecation (despite having a port-a-potty on site), littering/trash being left everywhere, and open fires. The Log Cabin Church is a local historical landmark that attracts folks to our town, so it’s disappointing and embarrassing when tourists can’t feel safe walking down our sidewalks to enjoy a peaceful day on the coast without getting accosted and harassed by people who contribute absolutely nothing to our community. I personally have to call the sheriff’s non-emergency line at least 3-4 times a week to report these issues (more calls during the summer months). Absolutely no one on West Third Street is ok with this. It’s real easy to not address the issue and brush it off when it’s not happening in you front yard on a daily basis.
I was a little taken aback reading the article on homelessness this morning. Some really good observations and then I read on to the next article about the county breaking ground in Waldport on a $5 million animal shelter. I guess we have priorities. Keep up the good work, YachatsNews.
I’ve heard that YachatsNews edits out comments, so I expect the same will happen with this one. It was extremely irresponsible to print the comment from Brooks about no police and a lot of rich people. We’re going to be overwhelmed and very likely put in harm’s way. Are you out of your minds? Do you even live in Yachats? I will no longer be donating to YachatsNews. You do not have our best interests in mind.
A newspaper’s job is to report what’s happening not to protect your interests.
OK, let’s report what’s happening then. Let’s have YachatsNews be balanced and interview some of the “thankful” neighbors that live near the Little Log Church Museum. Let’s report about the stewards who are dedicating their time to trying to get the museum restored for everyone to enjoy. Let’s report about the shotgun that was leaned up against the wall outside of this makeshift shelter. Let’s report about the feces that was smeared all over the walls of the bathroom of one of the local establishments. What are your interests?