Safe Rest Village Near Schools Support Revoked

Leaders are looking to pull the plug on a Safe Rest Village. Association leaders affiliated with this project are concerned that the City of Portland and Multnomah County are not meeting safety requirements. The village is proposed to go in near the International School of Portland and Bridges Middle School. The precautions stated are to protect children. 

The 2300 SW Naito Stakeholder Group is the organization that made the announcement on Friday. It stated that it would be withdrawing its support for the Safe Rest Village.

The group said officials have failed to implement low-barrier safety requirements. Those measures include screening potential residents for felony crimes against a person. They also include sex crimes and felony property crimes.

The original proposal for the project included required background checks. One leaders said that some other low-barrier requests were denied two days ago. Bridges Middle School parents, guardians and staff supported the village by ensuring these background checks would be required. It is also being reported that the city also denied the community’s request for a minimum 1,000-foot buffer zone between the village and the school. This buffer would be free of camping, drug use and other criminal activity.

Quite a few groups are included in this effort. Fourteen other neighborhood associations are asking for the same safety requirements. They are also concerned that the villages will draw in potentially predatory drug dealers and additional trash. Some are saying that there is unnecessary fear of marginalized and vulnerable people living on the streets. However, crime in and around camps have seen criminal activities.