Judge allows Oakland to clear homeless encampment
Enough shelter beds available for displaced residents, he decides
Nearly a month after a federal court barred Oakland from clearing one of its most prominent homeless encampments, the judge in the case has determined the city has enough shelter beds for the displaced residents and can proceed with the removal.
The action will set in motion the eviction of several dozen people living on a vacant, city-owned lot off Wood Street in West Oakland — a move the city says is necessary so 170 units of affordable housing can be built on the site. Residents of the encampment, who have built a cohesive community there and help one another access clothes, sleeping bags, medicine and food, pleaded with the judge to continue protecting the camp — at least until two alternative shelter sites are up and running.
Though U.S. District Judge William Orrick said he understands their fears and concerns, he said he must rule in favor of the city.
“The city's obligation is to provide, in this context, alternative shelter,” said Orrick, who planned to issue a formal order following Friday's hearing. “That's the thing that I required of them. They have done that. It's not preferable for you, but that is what they have now been able to put together.”
The camp represents the last vestiges of Oakland's largest encampment — a massive, sprawling complex of tents, vehicles and makeshift shacks that had come to symbolize the Bay Area's homelessness crisis. Caltrans cleared the bulk of the camp — between 200 and 300 people — from a neighboring lot owned by the agency last year. Many of the people displaced by that eviction ended up on the city-owned lot.
In early January, Orrick issued a temporary restraining order barring Oakland from clearing the rest of the camp — ruling the eviction could place residents in danger by forcing them out of their homes during severe storms with the threat of COVID-19, flu and RSV, and without adequate options for alternate shelter. It wasn't the first time a judge had tied a city's hands like that. Orrick temporarily blocked Caltrans from clearing the encampment on its land before reversing course. In November, a judge briefly barred San Jose from clearing an encampment at Columbus Park. And in December, a judge temporarily barred San Francisco from clearing encampments throughout the city.
In Oakland's case, the city was able to convince the judge that it had built enough temporary shelter to hold everyone displaced from the Wood Street camp. The city is building rudimentary tiny homes nearby that will be prioritized as temporary shelter for residents displaced from the encampment. Officials plan to open 30 beds in the tiny homes by Monday, and eventually ramp the site up to accommodate 100 people. An additional 29 parking spaces with electrical hookups and bathrooms will open Feb. 13 in East Oakland for unhoused residents who live in RVs. In addition, the city expects to have about 100 beds available in other shelters, tiny home communities and transitional housing sites.
So far, outreach workers have offered shelter placements to 69 people living in and around the Wood Street encampment, according to the city. Of those, 36 have accepted and 33 either have declined or are still undecided.
“We are not able to resolve the crisis through this case, this litigation, through one cabin site or one RV site,” Jamilah Jefferson with the City Attorney's Office told the judge Friday, “but the city is working very diligently … to accommodate as many needs as possible and the concerns of the plaintiffs.”
But Brigitte Nicoletti with the East Bay Community Law Center, which is representing the plaintiffs, accused the city of putting the “cart before the horse” by seeking approval to clear the encampment before the new tiny home site and RV parking site are open.
“If the (temporary restraining order) is dissolved, the plaintiffs will experience immense harm,” she said. “Their community will be broken up.”
The plaintiffs argued not all residents of the encampment can go to one of the shelter sites the city is offering — either because they have mental health conditions that prevent it or because they have a trailer or other belongings that they can't bring with them.
Resident LaMonte Ford described the joy of finding the Wood Street encampment, where residents have celebrations, eat communal meals and help one another like family.
“I came out here to die,” Ford said. “And instead of that, I found a new source of life.”
Once the court order is lifted, the city won't start shutting down the encampment until at least Feb. 13, Jefferson said.
Orrick said he plans to take steps to make sure the city follows through with opening the alternative shelter sites that it has promised.
In the meantime, Oakland plans to move forward with a plan to build affordable housing by nonprofit developers MidPen Housing Corporation and Habitat for Humanity. The developers plan to build 170 units — half will be rentals and half will be for purchase. All will be affordable, priced for different levels of income — including some units for formerly homeless residents.