Portland is postponing clearing out the large homeless encampment at Harbor View Memorial Park near the Casco Bay Bridge due to the rain.
Crews were supposed to dismantle the encampment Thursday, but that plan has changed, according to Portland Mayor Mark Dion.
Dion said the city may take down the camp on Jan. 2, depending on the forecast.
More than 100 people have been camping at Harbor View Memorial Park for the past few months.
But city leaders said the time has come to enforce the city’s no camping ordinance.
“Despite all the discussion, the principle is clear. Public camping is illegal in the city of Portland,” Dion said.
Some living in the encampment under the Casco Bay Bridge said they’ve been forced to relocate at least a half dozen times in the last year and a half. Many still refuse to go to the city’s Homeless Services Center.
Campers said some of the rules are barriers keeping them out.
“People can’t live together with their partners. There’s no pets. It’s hard to be an active user in the shelter. A lot of them don’t want to live in a big room with 20 other people in the same room,” said Daniel Babigian, a Portland public health outreach worker.
City councilors Anna Trevorrow and Victoria Pelletier called camp clearings inhumane. But Dion said allowing people to be outside in winter is more inhumane.
“I think death from exposure, or a tent fire, or an overdose is not an option we should consider by inaction,” Dion said.
In total, there have been 12 deaths in campsites in 2023. There are also concerns about what will happen when plows clear snow on the Casco Bay Bridge, because it usually spills off the sides onto the park below where the encampment is.
City officials said calls for service also have significantly increased in the Harbor View Park area, with 303 calls in 2023 and seven overdoses, including one fatal. In 2022, there were 59 calls for service and no overdoses.
City leaders said there are 95 available beds at the Homeless Services Center.
Dion said other encampments, including those near Interstate 295, will also eventually be removed.
He said campers have three options: go to a shelter, stay with a friend, or leave the city.
But he said the Homeless Services Center is the best option.
“We spent $29 million on this resource. We intend to use it. They need to exercise some responsibility because we have a duty to them and their safety, as well as a duty and responsibility to the neighbors and abutting businesses to have a safe environment,” Dion said.
