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Wheeling Camping Ban Enforcement Will Move Forward

WHEELING - Although the topic of homeless encampments was not on the agenda during Tuesday night’s regular meeting of Wheeling City Council, the issue was the recurring point of discussion among city leaders before a room full of homeless advocates who attended the meeting.

On Monday, nearly 30 social service providers and homeless advocates sent a letter to city leaders requesting they suspend enforcement of the city’s new camping ban on public property. The ordinance creating the camping ban was passed last fall and went into effect at the beginning of the year. But implementation of the new ordinance is expected to move forward.

During the first week of the year, the city placed two-week notices at homeless encampments to advise people living there that they must leave the area with their belongings. That two-week deadline goes into effect at 5 p.m. today.

"One of the concerns that a lot of these people have is that we’re going to go in while people are in their camps, and we’re going to bulldoze over them," Councilman Jerry Sklavounakis said. "Obviously, no one wants the city to do that."

And Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron stressed that the city is not taking that kind of dramatic action.

He said there have been problems at existing homeless encampments, including reports of criminal activity, illegal dumping and littering, and other issues. If and when the city takes action to close a particular camp, any people remaining on the property will be given two additional hours to pack up their belongings and relocate.

Officials indicated that there were about five different known sites on public property around the city where homeless encampments currently exist.

Homeless individuals were being referred to The Life Hub’s winter shelter on 16th Street in the former First English Lutheran Church, which can accommodate nearly 50 individuals with warm shelter and beds in which to sleep between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. daily through March 15.

There are other shelters in the city as well, officials noted. Because of frigid temperatures this week, the Salvation Army - which also offers a number of overnight beds - is offering shelter during the day as well. The YWCA of Wheeling also offers shelter for individuals escaping from domestic issues.

During Tuesday’s council meeting, Wheeling Homeless Liaison Melissa Adams stated that she knows of at least 15 individuals who are choosing to remain outside of The Life Hub’s shelter - not including those who camp in a space on private property behind Catholic Charities.

Officials said The Life Hub’s winter shelter has been open since Dec. 15, and so far, there’s not been anyone turned away because of its capacity.

While a number of people filled council chambers Tuesday night, only two individuals spoke during the meeting. Dr. William Mercer - who has been an outspoken opponent of the city’s camping ban from the beginning - again reiterated his opinion that the city should rescind the ordinance to ban camping. However, city leaders continued to give no indication whatsoever that they intend to waiver on the implementation of the camping ban.

Only Councilwoman Rosemary Ketchum and Mayor Glenn Elliott voted against the measure last fall, and Elliott at that time indicated that he would be more inclined to support legislation that had a clearer vision about the establishment of a managed camp that would be exempt from the code.

"I’ve talked to many people in the room about the issue of the camping ban," Elliott said. "Obviously, this is something that this council voted on last year. As someone in the minority on that vote, I don’t want to speak for council for that because I wasn’t in the majority on that vote."

Officials in the city of Wheeling continue to work toward establishment of a managed homeless camp which would be exempt from the ban. However, there has yet to be a site selected for such a camp.

"Certainly we feel mindful of the impact and understand how critical this issue is for so many in our community," Elliott said. "I know everyone on this council is committed to working to solve this issue. It’s one we’ve talked a lot about and that we’ve put some investment towards. We’ve tried to make a difference, but we’re still not where we need to be yet.

"I think that it’s something - going beyond this council - that is going to continue being an issue," he added. "I think we definitely need more help from the state and federal governments to make sure so many folks don’t fall through the cracks."

Council members noted that they have received a number of emails and letters about this issue over the past few weeks.

"We worked really closely with organizations while we were trying to navigate this, and we didn’t get exactly where we wanted to be, but we got somewhere close," Councilman Ben Seidler said. "We’ve had these conversations for months now, and each time we’ve come up with a tentative agreement, that needle moves. First it was ‘let’s not close the Nelson Jordan Center camp until the winter freeze shelter is opened.’ We were more than happy to do that. We did that. We revised the camping ban that was originally proposed, and we added verbiage to this - particularly Section E - that says ‘exceptions for approved camping locations.’"

Seidler contended that the language in the new ordinance not only allows the city manager to exempt a managed camp from the ban but also gives him the authority to permit an exemption to the ban for existing camps on public property in the city. However, no one has requested an exemption.

"There haven’t been any formal requests," Herron said. "There have been some discussions regarding the Nelson Jordan Center camp, which is the problematic camp that we have. There’s also some discussion about potentially using what they refer to as the maintenance trail for a managed camp."

Although the focus of the city administration has been on establishing a managed camp for homeless individuals, Herron said he would consider short-term exemptions at existing camps if council members interpreted the language in the ordinance that way.

"I’m open-minded to that," Herron said. "Keep in mind that we had issues with the camp behind the Nelson Jordan Center this fall, based on criminal activity, etc. That camp was posted for closure. We agreed to delay that until the winter freeze opened, but that camp is still an issue. I’m willing to discuss the various aspects for that camp, but that remains an issue for me and for the city administration."

The ordinance does require that the city manager put rules and regulations in place for authorized camps.

"Any exemption would be short-term while we work through coming to a solution here, and not every exemption would be granted," Herron said. "We do have issues with certain camps that need to be addressed. Any recognized nonprofit that has any association with providing homeless services can contact my office, and we’ll discuss the specific camp and the exemption, and the rules and regulations that would apply to that specific situation."

In a letter sent Friday, the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia had threatened to sue the city if it did not address what it deemed "constitutional" issues with its camping ban ordinance. The ACLU-WV gave the city an ultimatum to address its concerns by Tuesday or face litigation.

When asked after the meeting if the city had responded to the ACLU’s demands or if it planned to do so, Herron simply said, "No."

Some in the crowd after the meeting claimed that the ACLU had just "served" the city with notice that it had failed to meet the deadline and was going to be sued. However, no one could produce the document, and City Solicitor Rosemary Humway-Warmuth stated that whatever letter was handed to her was not a public record.

"When you guys put this stuff into place, to me it feels like a slap in the face, because the simple fact of the matter is when I was homeless, I didn’t have a choice not to be homeless," said Sonya Neer, Wheeling resident who spoke before council about the camping ban.

Mercer said he represented the group of 30 individuals who sent the letter to city leaders on Monday.

"We’d still like to see you suspend the enforcement of the ordinance," Mercer said. "We feel that we still do not have an adequate place for our homeless to go. The ordinance we feel does not help. We feel it should be rescinded. A lot of people are looking at what Wheeling is doing right now. But a lot of us with our feet on the ground really feel that this ordinance will make it worse."

Mercer indicated that the city and local service organizations need to continue working collaboratively toward a mutual solution to the issue.

"We all want the same thing - we all want to help our homeless, and we want our citizens who live next to these camps to feel safe," he said. "And I think that can be achieved. But if tomorrow this enforcement goes into effect, I think that’s going to have adverse consequences that I don’t think the city of Wheeling wants to look at."