Homeless aid organizations would be able to use some city parks to provide services as well as operate overnight camp sites under a plan being floated by Councilmember Karin Uhlich.
On Monday, Uhlich used her Ward 6 newsletter to share an outline of a pilot program called 鈥淗elp Huts.鈥 It would use city permits to let aid groups use several city parks to provide daytime aid and overnight camp sites at larger parks scattered across the city.
Uhlich said in the newsletter that she wants to hear from residents, at ward6@tucsonaz.gov with “Help Huts” in the subject line, so her office can gauge reaction before deciding whether to bring the idea to her colleagues on the city council.
鈥淭his is my attempt to outline an idea for consideration and my thinking alone ... Mayor and Council colleagues and staff won鈥檛 know more than you do at this point, and have not expressed any reactions about it,鈥 she said in the newsletter.
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The newsletter mentioned 12 parks.
鈥淚n each of the twelve parks citywide which have more than three rental ramadas, one shall be designated as available under the HELP HUT PROGRAM for the purpose of providing daytime space for organizations offering aid to unsheltered 蜜柚直播 residents,鈥 Uhlich said in the newsletter. Those parks are: Rudy Garcia, near South Sixth Avenue and East Irvington Road; James Thomas, near South Country Club Road and East 36th Street; Chuck Ford Lakeside, near East Stella and South Pantano roads; McCormick, near North Columbus and East Fort Lowell roads; Mission Manor, near South 12th Avenue and West Drexel Road; and Purple Heart, near East Rita and South Houghton roads.
On Monday, Uhlich used her Ward 6 newsletter to share an outline of a pilot program called 鈥淗elp Huts.鈥 It would allow homeless aid groups to use several 蜜柚直播 parks to provide daytime services and sanctioned overnight camps.
There are six city parks where organizations would be able to get a permit and rent out ramadas during dawn-to-dusk hours to erect up to 10 tents within a 20-yard perimeter around a designated ramada for overnight camps. Those parks are Danny Lopez (formerly Christopher Columbus Park) on North Silverbell Road north of West Sweetwater Drive; Fort Lowell, near East Glenn Street and North Craycroft Road; Lincoln, near South Pantano and East Escalante roads; Kennedy, near West Ajo Way and South Mission Road; Reid, near East 22nd Street and South Country Club Road; and Udall, near North Sabino Canyon and East Tanque Verde roads.
Andrew Christopher, President of the Arroyo Chico Neighborhood Association near Reid Park, said it鈥檚 good Uhlich is 鈥渨illing to fall on that political grenade.鈥
鈥淚鈥檓 not against it, you know, we need some solutions to the homelessness epidemic, and that seems like we鈥檙e kind of using existing resources, and you know, people camp in the parks anyways,鈥 said Christopher, clarifying that he was speaking for himself, not the neighborhood association. 鈥淚f you set up a system where you can monitor it and provide services, and make sure it鈥檚 clean during the day for others, that doesn鈥檛, on its face, seem like a terrible idea.鈥
But it does seem 鈥減olitically challenging鈥 to push through, 鈥渂ecause people are very sensitive about homelessness and parks, especially Reid Park,鈥 Christopher continued.
The city should instead be pursuing a more permanent camping option than allowing temporary sites to crop up within parks, said Larry Cory, president of the Westside neighborhood association, near Kennedy Park. He suggested the Santa Cruz River Park along Interstate 19.
Organizations that work with homeless people would be able to operate temporary camp sites in some 蜜柚直播 parks, including Reid in midtown, under a plan being floated by Councilmember Karin Uhlich.
鈥淚 thought that the聽city, or the county and the city, should make that into a camp site for the homeless ... There鈥檚 facilities for them (like) the grocery store, which is just right across the freeway,鈥 he said.
Cory said using popular parks like Kennedy, 鈥渢akes away from the neighborhoods that use those parks all the time.鈥
He said expanding facilities at parks, like showers or semi-permanent structures, could create a situation at parks that鈥檚 similar to the 100 Acre Wood, the name of a big homeless camp near David-Monthan Air Force Base that the city has been clearing for months.
Uhlich鈥檚 outline for the program includes several stipulations aid groups would need to follow. Among them: fund and provide aid on their own; keep the ramadas and surrounding area clean; specify a schedule with planned hours to provide aid; join the 蜜柚直播 Clean and Beautiful Adopt a Park program; have on-site security and supervisory contacts; insurance; and meet regularly with nearby neighborhood associations.
The sanctioned camp model has been an idea tossed around before, said Uhlich, naming former councilman Steve Kozachik. She also referenced a campground in Phoenix, sometimes called a safe outdoor space or 鈥淪OS lot,鈥 reported.
