Dennise Hill, Harrisburg’s director of building and housing development, spoke at Thursday’s press conference, flanked by other city officials.
Harrisburg plans to permanently shut down one of the city’s largest homeless encampments, citing concerns over sanitation and safety.
The city is giving people beneath the Mulberry Street Bridge, near Mulberry and Cameron streets, a week to vacate, after which the Department of Public Works will move in and clean up the area.
“Unfortunately, in order to clean up the full space, everyone currently residing there must leave,” said Matt Maisel, the city’s communications director, during a press conference on Thursday morning. “This is gut-wrenching. Nobody wants to do this, but it has to be done for the safety of everyone involved.”
The city estimates that 50 to 65 people are present in the encampment on any given day. However, “less than half” that number resides there permanently, said Randie Yeager, the director of Dauphin County human services. The city’s shelters will be able to absorb the displaced population, she said.
“Our winter overnight shelters are open and operating and we have not yet reached full capacity in any of those winter overnight shelters,” she said. “So, there are options for our homeless residents to enter shelters from 7 p.m. in the evening until 7 a.m. the next morning.”
The city, Maisel said, was forced to take action due to a severe rat infestation in the encampment, attracted to build-ups of trash and food waste. Public works employees recently were almost bitten during their twice-a-week cleanups at the site, said David West, public works director.
“The rats are very large. They’re jumping out of the trashcans. They’re jumping out of the dumpsters as my employees are trying to haul the trash away,” he said. “It is a very dangerous and hazardous situation that must be taken care of because it’s only going to get worse if we don’t do anything about it.”
The cleanup will begin late next week and take 24 to 48 hours to complete, involving both heavy equipment, such as loaders, and hand tools like rakes, West said.
Moreover, city police report “a recent spike in violent crime, drug usage and overdoses, sex workers, rapes, stabbings and shootings” in the area beneath the bridge, Maisel said.
Social service agencies that serve the homeless population have begun informing people of the city’s decision to clear out the area by next Thursday. After the area is cleaned up, people will not be allowed to return, Maisel said.
“We will have police patrolling the area in the days and weeks following to ensure no one comes back once the cleanup happens,” he said.
Dennise Hill, the city’s director of building and housing development and a board member of Capital Area Coalition on Homelessness, praised the groups that provide services to the city’s homeless population, some of which the city and county help to fund.
“We are exploring alternative housing options within the city to support these efforts on a more long-term basis,” she said. “However, the safety and health hazards occurring at the encampment create a sense of urgency that cannot be ignored or delayed.”
Maisel said that, at this time, the city has no plans to clear out other homeless encampments, such as the sprawling camp beneath the I-83 bridge near the PennDOT building.
Yeager added that her department and other social service agencies conduct outreach daily with the area’s homeless population and that they will continue to do so, wherever people relocate to.
“All of our encampments have to be safe for everyone involved,” she said.
She added that, in Harrisburg, the homeless population has returned to pre-pandemic levels, after dipping following the outbreak of COVID-19. The increase, she said, has not been from people living on the streets, but people who have been displaced from their homes and are now living with friends and family, mostly due to the increased cost of rent for people on fixed and low incomes.
“The types of units available are not within their reach,” she said.
Maisel said that the city is considering “a semi-permanent type of solution for some of the encampment residents,” saying that potential plan still was in “the early stages.” He also said that city plans to unveil an affordable housing plan for people displaced by the rising cost of rent.
“There are things we’re working on here in the administration that hopefully help deal with some of the rent issues that people are discussing,” he said.
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