Agreement Reached For Exempted Homeless Camp Site In Wheeling
Eric Ayres Trending
WHEELING - The city of Wheeling and homeless advocacy groups came to an agreement Friday, with the city allowing an exemption for a homeless camp site across the street from Catholic Charities Neighborhood Center on 18th Street.
With that agreement, the city also will hold off on dismantling the remaining homeless camps in Wheeling city limits until Jan. 29. Also, the city and American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia are, according to the ACLU-WV, negotiating to have the organization withdraw its request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the city and its recently enacted camping ban on public property.
A hearing had been scheduled for 2 p.m. Wednesday before U.S. District Court Judge John Preston Bailey regarding that request.
Catholic Charities West Virginia President and CEO Mark Phillips requested the exemption for the site. He and Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron met late Friday morning, with Phillips providing an outline of how the site - a leased parking lot across from the Neighborhood Center - will operate.
"Those are acceptable," Herron said Friday of the outlined plans.
Phillips said Friday that he and representatives from other homeless advocacy groups will meet Monday to finalize the plans for that site and present them to the city for approval. The advocacy groups will begin moving homeless people into the site over the weekend, Phillips added, with the possibility of some things needing to be moved around and altered at the site based on the final guidelines that are agreed to. Phillips said it is yet to be determined how many people will be able to use the site at one time.
He added he was pleased that the city and area homeless advocate groups could come together and work out a solution.
"It's really great to have partners at this point in the city who are willing to recognize how dire circumstances are for people who are living outside," Phillips said. "I wish that this conversation would have happened months ago before the ban, so we're not trying to move people out of camps in a state of emergency. This could have been done in a more organized way, but I'm glad that city council and the city manager are now working with us."
Wheeling City Council in November voted 5-2 for an ordinance prohibiting camping on public property within city limits. That ordinance mainly affected the city's homeless population, and that ban was supposed to go into effect Jan. 1. The city then gave those living in the camps until Wednesday to clear out.
In the meantime, the ACLU-WV filed a federal lawsuit against the city, claiming the ordinance was unconstitutional. It then filed an emergency request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, asking the court to stop the city from enforcing the ordinance. A homeless camp behind the Nelson Jordan Center was cleaned out Thursday.
In its news release Friday evening, the city said the ACLU-WV had agreed to withdraw its request for a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order. The organization later Friday evening released a statement clarifying the situation. ACLU-WV Legal Director Aubrey Sparks said those were the settlement negotiations, but nothing could be finalized until the clients the ACLU-WV is representing accept the terms.
"We are thankful to the city for identifying an exempted site," Sparks said. "We think that this is an issue that can be resolved in the coming days in a way that protects people's rights, as well as their lives in this state of emergency. However, there are details to work out, questions still to answer, and - most importantly - clients whose approval is absolutely necessary for a final agreement to be reached.
"So, we put out this statement to be clear: the City of Wheeling's press release accurately describes proposed negotiated terms, but no final agreement is in place. Putative class members with questions are encouraged to contact our office."
The new city ordinance allows for a year-round managed camp. Phillips said the exempted site could be part of a managed camp, but when the Life Hub winter shelter closes in March, the exempted site alone would be too small for a managed camp.
Herron said the city will continue the conversation with homeless advocates about a possible managed camp in the city.
"We'll continue to work with nonprofits to try to determine a permanent site," he said.
Herron echoed Phillips' sentiments that the city and homeless advocates were able to come together for a solution.
"We're very pleased we were able to come to an amicable agreement," he said.