The number of homeless campers has dwindled drastically at a site near Greenmount Cemetery since Durango police forced some protesting residents to leave earlier this week.
About 10 residents remain at the site, a temporary overnight camp established by the city, and some say they plan to remain until the city closes the site on Aug. 25.
“I am going to stick it out,” Alan Scaggs said.
When the camp was established at the end of June, about 35 people were registered to stay there.
It’s been quiet at the site since police visited Tuesday evening and required all those who were previously cited for failing to obey city rules to leave, he said.
“We intend to keep it that way, peaceful,” Scaggs said.
The residents who were forced to leave were protesting city rules that require them to break camp every morning and leave the site from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Residents said the rules caused problems with theft and property damage.
Homeless resident Millie Sanders said about five police officers arrived about 8 p.m. Tuesday and gave those people who had been cited for disobeying city rules 30 minutes to an hour to leave.
She spent Tuesday night walking the streets because she does not have anywhere to go, she said.
“I feel very broken,” Sanders said.
She was one of eight people who were forced to leave, she said.
Police arrived shortly after Durango City councilors agreed in a public meeting that camp rules must be upheld.
Police Chief Kamran Afzal confirmed officers required those who were previously cited for trespassing on city property to leave.
“That’s what trespassing means, right, that you are banned from being somewhere,” he said.
Sanders said the police did not inform her before Tuesday night that she was not allowed to sleep overnight on the city’s site.
Durango City Councilor Dean Brookie said the police action was in line with councilors’ direction to uphold camp rules.
“Nobody’s been asked to leave that has not been fully aware of their noncompliance,” he said.
City councilors do not want to allow people to stay all day on the property because they do not want the city to be responsible for relocating the residents when the camp closes. The city doesn’t have the resources, land or expertise to serve homeless residents long term, Brookie said.
The camp near Greenmount was set up as a temporary, emergency area for homeless residents after the 416 Fire when an evacuation shelter at Escalante Middle School closed.
While Brookie opposes establishing a camp for the homeless in the city, he supports a nonprofit establishing housing that would provide homeless residents with social services on city property.
The city has also asked the Colorado Department of Local Affairs for assistance with setting up a shelter that wouldn’t require residents to be sober, he said. Such a shelter would be run by a nonprofit, not the city, he said.
“I’m looking at the bigger, long-term picture,” he said.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
