I-110 homeless camp won't be dismantled by Thanksgiving, but here's what's next in the plan

An aggressive goal of having hundreds of homeless campers relocated from underneath the Interstate 110 overpass by Thanksgiving won't be met after the Pensacola City Council delayed funding projects for the population, but advocates are still trying to find alternatives on a tight timeline.

The Homelessness Reduction Task Force of Northwest Florida vetted and ranked a series of projects that could benefit from a $3 million American Rescue Plan Act fund the city of Pensacola allocated to combat homelessness.

Those plans included projects like launching three alternative — and more heavily regulated — campsites than the I-110 bridge, employing social workers and expanding shelters. But the City Council still had enough questions remaining after a five-hour council meeting Nov. 11 that the council again delayed funding any of the measures.

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The task force is now trying to find solutions and compromises while up against a January deadline when a moratorium on evicting the homeless under the overpass expires and the Florida Department of Transportation is expected to start working in the area to revamp the Hollice T. Williams Park.

Members of the task force fear that dismantling the camp without alternatives in place will just send the homeless into neighborhoods or woods and further isolate them from the resources they might need.

Task force leader Connie Bookman, the CEO of Pathways for Change, has been meeting individually with City Council members over the last week ahead of a Dec. 1 council meeting where the board is expected to again take up the issue and potentially fund some of the sites.

Bookman said between the council and feedback from the public, the biggest hesitation in going ahead with the task force's recommendations is the idea of shifting the problem from one location to another with the alternative campsites.

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"They want I-110 to go away, but they don't want it anywhere in their neighborhood," Bookman said, referring to the dozens of public speakers from around North Hill and Mobile Highway who opposed the alternative campsites in their area at the Nov. 11 meeting. "We're not going to put them on an island. It's got to be a workable place."

The task force was not formed in response to the ARPA money but was independently formed early this year to address growing homelessness in the city and was tasked with facilitating the $3 million funding requests. The City Council ultimately decides which ones to fund.

The I-110 site has grown out of control in recent months and authorities are limited in what they can do with an eviction moratorium in place, something Bookman said she thinks has created a misconception about what the other sites would look like. The three proposals for alternatives would include a code of conduct, background screenings and full-time management and security on site.

"With the Dec. 1 meeting, I want to make sure it's all crystal clear and there's no reason not to make a decision," Bookman said.

Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson said the I-110 encampment was always intended to be a temporary solution and come the new year, the site will need to be turned into a construction zone.

"When we did it, it was a temporary request, but by January, they would have been there a year and we really need to move on," he said. "We've had some good ideas. ... I was hoping council would've made a decision on some of them in early November but with another meeting Dec. 1, I hope they make some progress."

Robinson said the encampment was allowed to stay because it formed at the height of COVID when shelter space was scarce and health officials didn't recommend moving large populations around like what would need to happen at the encampment. But with months of work from the task force, he hopes the camp will close soon.

"I would like to hope as much time as we've had, as much energy — and there's a lot of time and effort from people engaged in homelessness who've put forward some good ideas — I hope they'll be embraced,” he said.

The Dec. 1 meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.

Emma Kennedy can be reached at ekennedy@pnj.com or 850-480-6979.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola I-110 homeless camp won't be gone by Thanksgiving deadline