Phoenix to appeal order demanding 'The Zone' be cleared by early November
Phoenix intends to appeal an order in a public nuisance lawsuit that requires the city to clear its largest homeless encampment of people by early November, according to court records.
The city, in a filing to the Maricopa County Superior Court judge overseeing the case, called "the removal of all tents and temporary shelter from the downtown area by November 4 ... a Herculean, and possibly unattainable task under any circumstances," but one that is "doubly untenable" because of a court order in a different legal proceeding that requires officials to take certain steps before disrupting homeless camps.
In a lawsuit filed last year, Brown v. City of Phoenix, neighboring businesses and residents claimed the camp has subjected them to violence and caused damage to their property. Because of the lawsuit, Phoenix has been clearing people block by block out of The Zone, as the camp is called. The clearing process began in May.
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A trial was held for the case in July, and on Sept. 20, Judge Scott Blaney ordered Phoenix to permanently clear the area in just over six weeks.
In a Sept. 26 filing to Blaney, Phoenix called his ruling "the legal equivalent of being caught between a rock and a hard place."
The city must also follow orders from an ongoing federal lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona on behalf of people who said they lost personal belongings in Phoenix's homeless camp cleanups.
One of the requirements of the federal case is that Phoenix cannot enforce camping and sleeping bans "against individuals who practically cannot obtain shelter as long as there are more unsheltered individuals in Pheonix than there are shelter beds available," according to the filing.
"Based on current housing options for the homeless," the city told Blaney, "it is simply not possible" to clear areas of The Zone and offer the people living there housing options if clearing operations occur more often than once every three weeks. Clearing more frequently would potentially overwhelm existing shelters and run afoul of the federal court orders, the city said.
Phoenix asked Blaney to put his Sept. 20 ruling on hold. The "area should be clear a mere few months" after Blaney's Nov. 4 deadline under Phoenix's current plan for clearing The Zone, the filing said.
Whether Blaney puts his order on hold pending Phoenix's appeal, Phoenix's lawyers said, the city "will continue its cleanup efforts as expeditiously as practicable given the strictures" of the federal court's orders.
Phoenix has cleared about nine blocks of The Zone so far. A 10th cleanup is scheduled for later this month.
The Human Services Campus, a collection of nonprofits that serve people experiencing homelessness, estimated in late September that roughly 500 people were still living in blocks near South 12th Avenue and West Madison Street, the epicenter of The Zone.
Phoenix officials declined to comment on the appeal. An attorney representing the people who brought the nuisance suit was not immediately available.
Helen Rummel covers housing insecurity and homelessness for The Arizona Republic. Reach her at hrummel@gannett.com.
Coverage of housing insecurity on azcentral.com and in The Arizona Republic is supported by a grant from the Arizona Community Foundation.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix to appeal judge order for 'The Zone' to be cleared by Nov. 4
