St. Paul’s homeless encampment closures may be on pause indefinitely

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - There are no scheduled dates to clear St. Paul's remaining homeless encampments after city leaders called the closure of the camp at Pig's Eye Park unsuccessful.

The backstory

What we know:

In July, Mayor Kaohly Her announced plans to close the city's three biggest encampments — at Pig's Eye Park, Randolph Avenue and Maryland Avenue. City and county workers had the more than 200 people living at Pig’s Eye Park moved out by the evening of August 5.

The city spent more than $1 million opening new shelter beds ahead of that closure. Shelter providers, including those at Catholic Charities, said only seven of those beds were used by people from the camp. Around 100 people from Pig's Eye moved instead to the Randolph Avenue camp, located near the luxury Waterford Bay apartments. Since then, FOX 9’s reporting shows police calls to that camp have jumped more than 1,200%.

What they're saying:

FOX 9's Emily Pofahl sat down with St. Paul City Council President Rebecca Noecker, who says there are no other scheduled closures right now — and she doesn't think there should be any for some time.

St. Paul Fire told FOX 9 in a statement that the Randolph site presents "some unique access and operational challenges because of the location, terrain, secured gates and conditions within the site." The department also says fire and EMS crews use special personal protective equipment when entering the camp. Noecker said she has received reports from Waterford Bay residents of vandalism and theft since the Randolph encampment expanded.

"911 calls are coming in for things that we know that if people are housed and have supportive services on site, there's not as much of a need for that kind of emergency response, which again, is the most expensive kind of response," said Noecker.

Noecker says the solution, at least in part, is more permanent, supportive housing in the city — meaning more apartments with wraparound services like mental health treatment and job counseling nearby.

"The city doesn't have the budget or the mandate to create shelter. That's really a county and a state responsibility," said Noecker, "but even when we've tried to see that not get acted on quickly enough, really, is troubling."

What's next:

Noecker said she visited the Randolph encampment Tuesday morning, and many people there made it clear to her, they are not interested in going to overnight shelters.

"I continue to feel strongly that we should not close encampments until we have a place for people to be," said Noecker, "and that place cannot just be the kind of shelter beds that we have right now."

The city is already facing a $26 million budget deficit. Noecker says she is looking to the state and county to help fund permanent housing solutions.