Portland-based Disability Rights Oregon has sent two letters to Grants Pass officials, saying its new rules on homeless campsites violate federal and state law.
The city has designated two campsites for homeless people, and campers must move from one site to the other every week or risk a citation and a $50 fine or potential arrest.
Tom Stenson, deputy legal director for Disability Rights Oregon, said the city should investigate whether disabled homeless people need reasonable accommodations, as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“I think in this case, the notion that you’re going to get arrested if you don’t physically transport yourself and all your belongings on your back a mile through town, that has a very obvious physical connection. There’s very obviously a whole host of disabilities that would be affected,” he said.
Stenson said disabled homeless residents have been cited and fined for not moving, but he believes those who are physically unable to move from site to site should receive accommodations.
“I think it’s pretty easily understandable that you can’t arrest somebody just because they’re in a wheelchair, and they don’t have a home. [That’s] a pretty clear red line. Nobody’s really explained to me why that would be permissible, how that makes sense, either legally or morally or politically,” he said.
The city’s police chief and interim city attorney did not respond to requests for comment.
In a statement, Grants Pass Mayor Sara Bristol reaffirmed the city’s goal of establishing long-term shelters.
A campsite designated by the city of Grants Pass for homeless people, shown on October 2, 2024, before any campers moved in.
Jane Vaughan / JPR
“The intent is to provide a place where unhoused people can rest, but these sites are not intended to provide for indefinite camping,” the statement reads.
Stenson said he has received a phone call from the city attorney in response to one of the letters, but said, “He wouldn’t discuss anything of substance.”
Dr. Bruce Murray, the chief medical officer for the Josephine County nonprofit MINT, which provides services to homeless people, said he has provided medical notes to about 25 homeless disabled residents, saying that each one “is medically fragile with complex health problems and should not move to an alternate campsite,” according to a template of the note. But Murray said Grants Pass police have disregarded the notes.
“The police looked at [the note], and they didn’t go as far as crumbling it up and throwing it away, but they said, ‘This has no legal standing,’” he said.
Murray said some people are in wheelchairs or have amputations or conditions like chronic kidney failure or heart failure.
“These are really sick people on a bad day, and they haven’t had any good days. So these weren’t frivolous, ‘You’ve got a hangnail, Bruce will give you a note,’” Murray said.
Stenson and Murray would rather homeless disabled residents be allowed to remain at one site, rather than having to move back and forth each week.
In his October 3 letter to the city, Stenson called the frequent moves “pointless,” saying, “Requiring such frequent and circular moves has the effect, not of vindicating some important city interest in sanitation or safety, but to make it as unpleasant as possible for people who are homeless to remain in Grants Pass.”
In recent weeks, the Grants Pass City Council has changed both the locations of the campsites and how long residents are allowed to remain there. The two current campsites are 1.284 acres at the future Water Treatment Plant site at 755 SE J St. and about a quarter of an acre at 712 NE 7th St. next to the police station. The city has received some pushback about the quality of these sites, including that they provided no shade or potable water. Local nonprofits have since provided shade canopies and bottled water.
Providing these two campsites is the city’s way of following Oregon state law in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling. In June, the Supreme Court sided with the city in a long legal battle, upholding its ban on public camping. But Grants Pass still has to comply with a state law that says rules regulating where homeless people can camp must be “objectively reasonable”, although that term isn’t specifically defined.
Stenson said he would prefer to work with the city to find a solution to this problem rather than going to court.
“I don’t want to rush into the courtroom,” he said. “I could be filing stuff in court today, if I wanted to be. What I want to do is I want to have a discussion, and I want to resolve this issue.”