People gather at a homeless camp in Juniper Ridge on the outskirts of northeast Bend on June 2.  

Two of three Deschutes County commissioners Wednesday approved a plan to remove homeless people from city and county land north of Bend, which could cost Deschutes County as much as $300,000.

Commissioners Tony DeBone and Patti Adair approved a 10-week, four-phase plan that will offer potable water, portable toilets and hand-washing stations to people living while homeless on Juniper Ridge at an initial cost of $200,000. However, the plan will ultimately end in their removal. Commissioner Phil Chang abstained from voting on the matter Wednesday.

The plan emerged when the county cited a 50-acre plot of its own land for violations of health and safety standards in March. Now, that code violation has permeated neighboring city-owned land, transforming the ordeal into a mass sweep of up to 200 homeless people.

It will be one of the largest homeless encampment sweeps in the region in recent years.

Emotions ran high at the Commission meeting Wednesday, which led to a familiar and heated back-and-forth between the Republican commissioners and the lone Democrat. 

Adair pointed to California, which has spent $17 billion on homelessness in the past four years, according to the Wall Street Journal. Their problem is getting worse, she said.

“It’s not always money,” she said.

Chang in response said: “It’s not always money. It’s about having the right people doing the work and doing it smartly, which is something that we have here in Central Oregon — no thanks, in many ways, to the Deschutes County board of commissioners.” 

DeBone said Chang was being negative and depicting a “dark world.” 

“Well, the dark world is that homelessness continues to increase in our region. We have a window of opportunity to actually turn a corner on this before it gets to Portland-scale or San Francisco-scale, or whatever city you want to point to,” Chang said.

It’s imperative for the county to act swiftly and smartly, he said.

“And shuffling people around from one unauthorized location to another is not acting smartly,” he said.

Nevertheless, all agreed the county must abide by its own code.

Juniper Ridge is colloquially called dirt world, because it is characterized by dry, dusty conditions, winding dirt roads and sheer isolation from the city. It spans about 1,500 acres along U.S. Highway 97. Some estimate homeless people have been living there for more than a decade.

People living near the property where the county was in violation of its own code have used a nearby canal for drinking water, bathing and washing laundry, according to documents obtained by The Bulletin. But there is also excessive amounts of feces in the area and the county is concerned about the potential transmission of bacteria or parasites.

That land abuts more than 630 acres of city-owned land, which is outside of city limits and therefore subject to county rules.

More Coverage: Juniper Ridge

Deschutes County to consider removing people from Juniper Ridge, citing health, safety hazards

The city received a nearly identical code violation from the county at the end of May.

The city of Bend will take point from the commissioners’ decision Wednesday, but ultimately, its land north of the city will also be swept of homeless people same as the county’s.

“We’re just like any other property owner that receives a notice,” said Matt Stuart, the city of Bend’s real estate director.

The future of community at Juniper Ridge in limbo

While there are numerous health concerns on city and county property in Juniper Ridge, behavioral and mental wellness is also a concern.

Often, people living outside while homeless have relationships with one another and with service providers that create a sense of safety and stability, said Janice Garceau, the director of health services for the county.

With the plans for Juniper Ridge, they may lose that.

“Regardless of how people feel about encampments, the reality is the folks who are living there do live in a community,” Garceau said. “They do have relationships of care and trust with each other, not just with us. They check in on each other, help each other.”

The impact of removals like the one at Juniper Ridge isn’t just losing a service provider or access to services. It’s also losing a neighborhood, Garceau said. It can give way to an increase in mental health symptoms and heightened stress from having to move on short notice, she said. For many living on Juniper Ridge, who work, the impending removal will also likely impact their jobs.

“It literally can affect their ability to get to work every day,” Garceau said.

However, another impact could be a positive one, she said. It could mean accessing a homeless shelter or housing, given that is available.

The county has a policy in place for addressing homeless encampments. However, the plan for Juniper Ridge wasn’t created in accordance with that policy, county documents show. The policy was intended “to address problem encampments on a much smaller scale with focus on the removal of personal property, not individuals themselves,” the plans said.

DeBone previously told The Bulletin he believed removing people from Juniper Ridge might make the county vulnerable to legal challenges via Martin v. Boise.

Martin v. Boise was a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that made it illegal for governments to punish people sleeping outside on public property if inadequate homeless shelter beds are available or when people have no other option but to live outside.

“We’ll probably end up in the courts for the rest of time here pretty soon,” DeBone told The Bulletin in a June 1 interview. “That’s kind of the reality of this situation. Either the state court for land use, or the federal court for homeless issues or our local Catch-22 with code enforcement. That’s the conundrum no matter which way we go — we can’t go backwards probably. It’s just wild right now.”

Once people and their belongings are removed from the county’s land, the county intends to secure its property to deter people from returning, according to its plans.

The county could utilize locked gates, concrete jersey barriers to block vehicle access from the highway and a private security patrol, according to draft plans.

The concrete barriers and gates could cost around $35,000 combined.

“It seems like a more affordable option than trying to fence the entire property,” said Kristie Bollinger, the county’s property manager.

Permanent fencing around the entire property could cost up to $756,000, the plans said.

People living on county land on Juniper Ridge haven’t yet been told they will likely have to move, said Erik Kropp, county administrator. Direction from the County Commission could kick-start that notification. 

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect action taken on Wednesday, June 21.