Safe zone for homeless tents faces uphill climb

SPARTANBURG - Andrew Stanga lived in a tattered and torn tent off St. John's Street in downtown Spartanburg.

While the shabby shell let rainwater in and was hardly thick enough to shield against cold weather, it was the only shelter the homeless man knew.

And then one night, he returned to signs plastered throughout the property.

"No trespassing," they read.

Stanga packed up his sparse belongings and left, unsure where to go.

If a Spartanburg couple gets their wish, Stanga and other homeless people would have a place in the city to set up their tents without fear of trespassing, being harassed or arrested.

John and Olivia McIntyre, leaders of a ministry out of The Journey Church, went before the city council at its Nov. 25 meeting and asked that they designate a safe zone for a homeless campsite.

They later made their pitch in separate meetings with City Manager Chris Story and representatives with the United Way of the Piedmont - two members of a Task Force formed in 2018 to address homelessness.

Yet, as the city seeks solutions to the national crisis with an understanding that adequate housing is a problem, the proposal faces an uphill slog.

Story told the newspaper recently, "I don't think there's an immediate path forward for it."

Mayor Junie White was especially critical of the concept in a Herald-Journal interview. He was at the Dec. 9 meeting where dozens of Duncan Park residents opposed a Habitat for Humanity project on a swath of vacant land. And that was a plan for two low-income houses.

Imagine the reception a tent city proposal would get, White said.

"People would raise hell about this," White said of the safe zone idea. "I just don't think it will look too good for our city."

"We've got to help our homeless," White added, "but there are certain things we can do and certain things we can't do."

Many cities across the country have taken steps though to address homeless encampments by adopting ordinances.

The city of Spartanburg doesn't have an ordinance regarding tents, even though they can be found tucked away in wooded areas. Several homeless people the Herald-Journal spoke to have been forced out of their tents either by trespass notices or by vandals who destroyed their belongings.

Councilwoman Ruth Littlejohn said the city should at least explore the option along with the Task Force.

It's worth consideration, said Olivia McIntrye.

"These tents are already out there," she said. "We want there to be a place where they can legally have these up. It's not going to help our city by forcing these homeless people to go elsewhere."

As for where this campsite could go, the McIntyres suggest land near the city-run Opportunity Center on Saxon Avenue. That space, opened in August, provides the homeless with food, showers, laundry services, bus passes, storage and more.

It's such an issue nationwide that it was the focus of a 2017 study by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty.

That study, titled "Tent City, USA," found that the number of homeless encampments across the country increased by 1,342 percent between the start of 2007 and the end of 2016.

They have popped up in every state.

"This increase in encampments reflects the growth in homelessness overall, and provides evidence of the inadequacy (and sometimes inaccessibility) of the U.S. shelter system," the study says, before going into how cities are handling the appearance of these tents.

The study found that it's far more common for cities to restrict these encampments than it is for cities to enable them.

Thirty-three percent of the 187 cities focused on in the study prohibit camping city-wide, and 50% prohibit camping in particular public places, increases of 69% and 48%, respectively, from 2006-16.

Fewer government jurisdictions sanction these encampments.

Of the 187 cities reviewed in the study, only 10 (5%) have explicitly permitted some form of legalized camping.

Examples given in the study: Las Cruces, New Mexico, hosts a permanent encampment with a co-located service center; Washington state permits religious organizations to temporarily host encampments on their property; Vancouver, Washington, permits limited overnight self-sheltering encampments on city property.

These efforts require a lot of work, according to the study.

"In order to be successful, legalized encampments require a tremendous amount of planning, consultation and collaboration with all stakeholders, most especially the homeless residents of the encampment," it reads.

The study also mentions cities that have implemented strategies to get rid of Tent Cities by housing the homeless people living there. The city of Charleston is among these examples.

In early 2016, Charleston dismantled a large encampment of more than 100 homeless persons living underneath an interstate overpass with zero arrests, and housing options were made available for all residents.

After finding trespassing signs where his tent had sat for weeks, Andrew Stanga moved elsewhere.

In an interview with The Herald-Journal at the downtown library, where he spends his days, he didn't want to reveal where his tent is now set up, for fear that he'll lose that spot.

He's in favor of the McIntryes' safe zone idea.

"I think it's a great idea," he said. "People who are homeless are harassed, and we have nowhere to go."

Joshua Baker, who's been homeless for years, also experienced a problem with a tent. He was set up in a wooded area near a railroad track, hidden from public view. He wasn't asked to leave by a property owner or by police, but someone came by one day while he was away and vandalized his few belongings. Other items were stolen, he said.

With a city-sanctioned safe zone, that would be less likely to happen, he said.

"I would benefit greatly from that," Baker said.

The City of Spartanburg Police Department responds to tents set up by homeless people on a "case by case" basis, said Maj. Art Littlejohn.

While some are left alone, officers are forced to act when the tents are on private property and complaints come in from property owners.

"At the end of the day, we try and do what is best for everyone involved," said Littlejohn. "We aren't going around and harassing the homeless, but if there are laws being broken, such as trespassing, we have to respond. We have compassion for the homeless as well as the property owners."

As for tents that are hidden from plain view, Littlejohn said the police department isn't going out of its way to track them down.

"If you don't see the tents, is it really an issue?" he said.

Since undisturbed tents can already be found in the city, councilwoman Erica Brown doesn't see a need for establishing a safe zone.

"We have partners at the table" to address homelessness, she said, referring to the Task Force established in 2018. "We are looking to do the best we can; there are a number of organizations working with us. But as far as a city-sanctioned tent city, that's not something I would be in support of."

The McIntyres aren't willing to give up the fight. John experienced a brief stint of homelessness following a jail sentence. Later, he and his wife started a ministry at The Journey Church targeting previously incarcerated individuals going through a similar hardship.

With 227 homeless people living in Spartanburg County, according to the most recent count, they say there are "gaps" when it comes to available shelter beds in the city.

A safe zone would give them somewhere to sleep and keep their stuff.

"We are anticipating push back," Olivia said. "But our goal in approaching the city council is to at least start this conversation. We have real needs here that are not being met."