Sheriff proposes "urban campsite" to curb homeless problem

SALT LAKE CITY — Shrink downtown's Road Home capacity from 1,100 to 200 — in two months.

Establish an "urban campsite" on 100 South and 600 West.

Relocate the state liquor store at 205 W. 400 South.

Those are just a few highlights of a 21-point plan that Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder has drafted to tackle the issues that have plagued the Rio Grande neighborhood — and would solve problems sooner than waiting for the three new homeless resource centers to be built, he said.

The plan, Winder said, is part of an effort his office has made for the past two years during springtime to try to get ahead of the problem.

"Every year as the spring comes we roll up and say we've got to take substantive action because as the spring comes, so too does the summer and so too does the influx," Winder said on KSL Newsradio's "Doug Wright Show" Wednesday. "And each year the influx increases and the problems become magnified. At some point, we've got to cut the cycle."

Winder painted the scene of what has become the norm in the Rio Grande area: human excrement flipping up onto bike patrol officers' water bottles as they cycle by, needles and condoms scattering makeshift campsites, an open-air drug market.

"At some point, we've got to go down and get control," the sheriff said. "What I'm saying is we've got to clean it up, and that is going to require a physical and intellectual pressure on that area. And either this community is willing to do it, or they're not."

Winder acknowledged there are some "harsh elements" to the plan.

"Make no mistake," Winder said. "But what the plan suggests is we've got to take back the area first before we can begin to provide services to the needy. It's that simple."

State, county and city leaders have agreed to give the downtown shelter a hard closure date of June 30, 2019 — after new homeless resource centers open.

But Winder said action needs to take place now before the situation worsens even more this summer.

Currently, the shelter is "horribly overcrowded," the sheriff said, and the number of beds there have grown to the point that he believes it is a fire hazard.

That's why he's calling for the Road Home shelter to reduce its beds from 1,100 to 200 by June 1.

While Winder said he realizes a more realistic goal is likely a reduction to 500, he still wants to push the Road Home to reduce its beds to a safer level — and to prioritize serving the "legitimately indigent" over others who are choosing to live on the streets.

"If you come into the facility, you do not have warrants, you are not intoxicated, you do not have drugs on your person, you are not assaultive or combative," Winder said. "And people say, 'Oh that's harsh.' But are those the people we expect to be given beds over the legitimately indigent?"

So where would the other 600 to 900 people go in the meantime?

Winder suggests an "urban camping" site located at the vacant lot at 100 South and 600 West, or another suitable location, emphasizing that the site would be temporary.

"Look, we already have camping going on that's completely unmanaged," Winder said, adding that's why human waste can commonly be seen in on the gutters and medians of the Rio Grande neighborhood.

"If you reduce pressures inside the Road Home, that moves people out, they stay in that campsite for a short period of time until the other resource centers become activated, then we can identify the truly homeless, needy individuals to go into those centers."

2 sites in Draper announced as possible homeless resource center locations

Two sites in Draper announced as possible homeless resource center locations.

The sheriff's plan also includes proposals to confiscate bicycles used for illegal activities, launching an "aggressive" public awareness campaign to inform citizens that money given to panhandlers is commonly redirected to feed the drug trade, and creating a task force of officers to police the Rio Grande area on a full-time basis.

Winder also suggested removing the landscaping on the 500 West island — action that he called a "very logical approach" since the grassy area currently acts as a fitting place for camping.

"The problem we’ve got is what we’ve seen every day is complete and utter mismanagement in the downtown area relative to the Road Home," Winder said. "For two years we have been communicating with Salt Lake City and various levels of leadership and asking them and imploring them and discussing with them to make substantive alterations in the management of that area — and not just in arrests."

The Pioneer Park Coalition — a group of downtown business owners and developers — endorsed the sheriff's plan this week.

"We appreciate the sheriff for his work in bringing a concrete action plan that addresses rampant drug dealing, crime and camping in the Rio Grande neighborhood," the coalition said in a prepared statement.

However, the Downtown Alliance, another Salt Lake City business group, wouldn't give a full stamp of approval.

While Jason Mathis, the alliance's director, said the group is "grateful" for the sheriff's plan, calling it an "important first step," it can't fully support it because Downtown Alliance officials have concerns about some elements of the plan.

For example, reducing the Road Home's downtown capacity to 200 by June 1 is "fairly unrealistic," Mathis said.

"To embrace it wholeheartedly at this point would be irresponsible," he said. "But we do appreciate the fact he's at least thinking about it and trying to come up with a strategy this summer. If we don't address it pretty quickly, it's going to be a disaster."

Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski hasn't had a chance to review the plan with Winder, her spokesman Matthew Rojas said. "We're always open to discussing new ideas on the issue so we look forward to talking with him," he added.

No date has been set for the mayor to discuss the plan, Rojas said, but he said Salt Lake City leaders are "very committed" to finding solutions.

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