Frustrations rise amid growing Vancouver encampment off Mill Plain Boulevard

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A growing encampment in Vancouver off of Mill Plain Boulevard is becoming a source of frustration — for both nearby homeowners and campers who say they have nowhere else to go when their belongings get swept away during clean-up efforts.

The encampment is located near a concrete wall — known as the "Sound Wall" — between Lincoln Avenue and Franklin Street.

Homeowners who live next to the Sound Wall said they're fed up with the trash, human feces, needles and loud noises that go on at all hours.

"It's a sanitation thing, it's everything. It's a terrible situation," said homeowner Brian Amell. "It's bad. They're out at night, looking for things. My outlets here on the ground, they come and charge their phones and their devices up at night, I had to turn those off."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Sound Wall, Arcasa Red Thunder lives at the encampment.

"Support your fellow man, is what I figure, you know. We already know it's hard enough out here," he said.

Red Thunder said he thinks it's a "mean" thing for the city to subject people to sweeps and issue citations to those struggling with homelessness who can't afford them.

"Cleaning up people's camps and then kind of like taking away their lives, just because, you know... I got a ticket today," Red Thunder said.

The issue reached a boiling point during a Vancouver City Council meeting Monday night.

"I do hope each and every one of you regularly walk along Mill Plain and go down by the Share House and take in what you've created, because it's really very disgusting," testified a neighbor, Steve Herman.

"We do have a plan for clearing the Sound Wall and then prohibiting camping along the Sound Wall," said City of Vancouver Homeless Response Manager Jamie Spinelli during the meeting.

Red Thunder said he isn't sure where he would go if the encampment was cleared after KOIN 6 News witnessed active sweeps happening in the city on Wednesday.

"I don't know, across the street? I'm just kidding. I'm Native American, you know, where am I gonna go? Back to where I came from? That's lame," he said.

People who work closely with the homeless population have theories as to why there was such a sudden influx of tents at the Sound Wall. Among the many factors is the fact that the City of Portland, directly across the Columbia River, recently passed a camping ban.

KOIN 6 spoke with outreach workers with the non-profit Recovery Cafe. They think the many tents at the Sound Wall are the result of a combination of the Portland camping ban, scarce available shelters in Vancouver and the clearing of other large campsites in the city. The Recovery Cafe workers said they've seen 75 tents pop up at the site in just the last few weeks.

KOIN 6 asked the City of Vancouver for comment on the tensions surrounding the Sound Wall encampment or potential solutions but they were unavailable.

However, city officials said during Monday's council meeting that they have a list of nearly 50 campers they plan to use to get people into transitional housing, prioritizing shelter space for those currently staying at the Sound Wall.

There was one thing almost everyone — neighbors and campers alike — agreed on about the issue: the need for more services and affordable housing.