Hazelnut Grove Homeless Camp Can Stay in North Portland—But Its Neighboring Tent City Faces Eviction

A new city permit will give Hazelnut Grove organizers the breathing room they've said they need.

Portland Mayor Charlie Hales' office says a homeless camp can stay on a triangle of North Portland land—but only one camp, not two.

Hales' chief of staff, Josh Alpert, says the city is preparing to issue a permit that would allow Hazelnut Grove to stay on the land between North Greeley Avenue and Interstate Avenue, probably until the city's housing state of emergency ends.

That permit would make Hazelnut Grove the third city-authorized homeless camp in Portland. But the permit will be revocable.

"If Hazelnut Grove can't make it work, it does give us the authority to come in and say, 'Well, we're going to revoke your permit because you haven't complied with it,'" Alpert says.

As first reported by The Portland Mercury, the city is also in talks with local social-service providers to help move a second camp off the property.

"They shouldn't be on that land," Alpert says. "They're causing a lot of tension with Hazelnut Grove on that land."

WW explored the tensions between the two camps in this week's print edition.

Hazelnut Grove organizers could not be immediately reached for comment. But they have said that their need to get buy-in from the Overlook Neighborhood Association and other stakeholders has meant strict adherence to a 25-resident cap on camp size.

A code of conduct is also in place, forbidding drug use, discrimination, violence and theft.

"If we can figure out how Hazelnut Grove is doing this through self-regulation…that's something we should know so we can try to replicate that if its working," Alpert says. "Right now, they are providing a service for the city."

The second camp—which sometimes goes by the name of its kitchen, Forgotten Realms—does not appear to have written rules, and has been blamed for lawbreaking on the property.

Alpert says a sweep of Forgotten Realms will come seven days after the Oregon Department of Transportation hands over the keys to the two plots of land where the camps now stand, giving the city long-awaited enforcement authority for things like trespassing and exclusions.

As for the cap, Alpert adds that there's been talk of giving Hazelnut Grove "a little bit more leeway to add people from Forgotten Realms who want to sign on to the code of conduct." The new limit wouldn't be significantly higher than the current 25, he says.

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