La Plata County Sheriff’s Office looks for illegal homeless camps

Monday, Jun 1, 2020 4:11 PM Updated Tuesday, Jun. 2, 2020 11:18 AM

With opening of official campsite, people told to move to Purple Cliffs

Durango Herald file<br><br>Mounds of trash at an illegal homeless camp prompted the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office to ask the community for help cleaning up in September 2019.

The newly constructed community kitchen at the Purple Cliffs city-designated homeless camp, took weeks and a team effort to build. It serves as a gathering place for the camp. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

Food is available for people to cook inside of the new community kitchen May 13 at the city-designated homeless camp near Bodo Park in Durango. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

A newly constructed shower at the Purple Cliffs city-designated homeless camp. While the shower increases sanitation, the shared resource poses a challenge during the pandemic. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

Richard Dilworth, who volunteers with Durango’s Business Improvement District as homeless outreach coordinator, stands next to the new solar powered phone charger at the kitchen at the Purple Cliffs city-designated homeless camp. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

The kitchen includes a sink and handwashing station using water provided at the camp through community donations. The water supply increases cleanliness, campers said. They also use donated hand sanitizer to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

Timothy Sargent, camp leader at the Purple Cliffs, the city-designated homeless camp, talks about how the homeless community is dealing with the threat of the coronavirus on May 13. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

The newly constructed community kitchen at the Purple Cliffs homeless camp, was built without using nails or screws and is easily disassembled. While the kitchen builds a sense of community, people often gather without wearing masks. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

Pots hang inside of the new community kitchen May 13 at the Purple Cliffs city-designated homeless camp near Bodo Park in Durango. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

A new solar powered phone charger at the community kitchen at the Purple Cliffs homeless camp. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

Timothy Sargent, center, camp leader at the city-designated homeless camp near Bodo Park in Durango, and others gathered at the new community kitchen May 13. The campers are working together to self-isolate and deal with the threat of the coronavirus. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

A newly constructed shower at the community kitchen at the Purple Cliffs city-designated homeless camp. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

Amie Deiter pan fries hamburgers May 13 in the newly constructed community kitchen at the Purple Cliffs city-designated homeless camp. She said she feels the growing sense of community at the campsite. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald

With summer arriving and a potential surge of people living homeless in Durango, the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office will begin more regular sweeps of illegal camps.

“Now that we have warmer months, we’ll be patrolling more often,” said Chris Burke, spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office.

For years, a homeless camp existed just west of town near the Durango Tech Center, an area that crosses land owned by the city of Durango, La Plata County and the Bureau of Land Management.

And though camping had been prohibited in the area, local authorities chose to passively enforce the ban, preferring to work with the community on the outskirts of town.

But increasing concern about fire danger, trash and impacts to nearby neighborhoods put heightened scrutiny on the camp in recent years, culminating with the Sheriff’s Office shutting down the camp in September 2019.

An alternative 200-acre site south of Durango, known as Purple Cliffs, was opened for legal camping.

Trash was such an issue at the closed site near the Tech Center that Sheriff Sean Smith called for the help of the community in a cleanup day. In turn, he promised to patrol the area to make sure campers wouldn’t come back.

“This won’t ever be the place to camp again,” Smith said at the time.

The Sheriff’s Office intends to patrol the lands around the Tech Center every couple weeks, Burke said. Recently, residents along Ella Vita Court, which borders the old camp, have complained about illegal campers.

Last Wednesday, the Sheriff’s Office made a sweep of the area, finding one camp, which was tagged. Once a site is tagged, the person has 24 hours to vacate the area. If they don’t, authorities seize the property, which can be reclaimed within 30 days.

Burke said the campsite tagged Wednesday was not removed, so it was claimed by the Sheriff’s Office. He said it’s likely there are more camps in the area better hidden.

“Some people have gone to the extent of camouflaging their camps, so you can’t see it,” he said. “And there’s probably some more farther back toward the BLM land.”

The Sheriff’s Office also did patrols around Horse Gulch and the X-Rock climbing area in north Durango, finding several abandoned camps and one active site.

Previously, the Sheriff’s Office was prohibited from enforcing illegal camping without offering an alternative site. That changed with the opening of the camp at Purple Cliffs.

Burke said the Purple Cliffs location has been working relatively smoothly.

“They are policing themselves for the most part,” he said. “But if they have an issue, they call law enforcement.”

jromeo@durangoherald.com