Property owner responsible for taking care of RV camp on south Lancaster Drive

Capi Lynn, Salem Statesman Journal
Updated ·2 min read
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Area businesses and neighbors invited the Salem Police Department to a meeting Thursday to discuss concerns about an RV camp in Lancaster Drive SE parking lots near Coastal Farm & Ranch and WinCo.

Customers of the shopping center on south Lancaster took to social media after an initial report by KPTV was posted on a local crime page on Facebook, expressing their disbelief that nothing has been done about an encampment that has prompted safety and health concerns.

Many crimes have been reported in the parking lot and surrounding businesses in the past couple of months, including criminal mischief, assault, harassment and theft from a motor vehicle, according to Salem Police's Community Crime Map. More than a dozen other calls involved shoplifting.

RVs camping in a parking lot March 15 in the 1200 block of Lancaster Drive NE near Coastal Farm & Ranch and WinCo Foods.
RVs camping in a parking lot March 15 in the 1200 block of Lancaster Drive NE near Coastal Farm & Ranch and WinCo Foods.

"Not shopping there now. It is not safe," one person posted on Facebook.

"Couldn't pay me to go up there now," posted another.

One person reported it smelled awful in the area. Mounds of garbage and trash-filled shopping carts could be seen in front of a dumpster Friday morning near the RV camp. A cluster of makeshift tents was nearby.

The area where most of the motorhomes, trailers and vans are parked and people are living is nearest the smaller building that backs against Rickey Street and includes Thai Beer Restaurant.

"We need help," said a Thai Beer employee, who promised to get a message to the restaurant's owner to call the Statesman Journal.

Garbage piles up near a growing RV homeless camp in a parking lot in the 1200 block of Lancaster Drive NE on March 15 in front of WinCo Foods and Coastal Farm & Ranch.
Garbage piles up near a growing RV homeless camp in a parking lot in the 1200 block of Lancaster Drive NE on March 15 in front of WinCo Foods and Coastal Farm & Ranch.

Salem City Revised Code prohibits camping on all public property, but this situation does not apply because it involves private property. Marion County property records list Atlas Shopko Owner, LLC as the owner. Shopko used to be where Coastal is.

"In circumstances where there are issues on private property, such as trespass, the owner must take the action to notify individuals to leave the property," Salem Police spokeswoman Angela Hedrick said. "Law enforcement can certainly assist with reports of trespass, yet the property owner must be willing to press charges.

"The private property owner is also responsible for the cleanup or towing away of vehicles, etc."

RVs camping in a parking lot March 15 in the 1200 block of Lancaster Drive NE near Coastal Farm & Ranch and WinCo Foods.
RVs camping in a parking lot March 15 in the 1200 block of Lancaster Drive NE near Coastal Farm & Ranch and WinCo Foods.

A phone call to a person listed in documents filed by Atlas Shopko Owner, LLC with the Oregon Secretary of State's Office, did not return a phone call.

Some locals on Facebook assumed WinCo owned all of the property and parking lots in that area. The corporate communications office of WinCo headquarters in Boise, Idaho, did not return a phone call.

A call to the corporate headquarters of Coastal in Amman, Idaho, also was not returned.

Capi Lynn is a senior reporter for the Statesman Journal. Send comments, questions and tips to her at clynn@statesmanjournal.com, and follow her work on Twitter @CapiLynn and Facebook @CapiLynnSJ.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Salem businesses, neighbors express concerns over homeless camp