Change may benefit homeless

On Monday, the Corvallis City Council will consider changes to an ordinance it suspended briefly in June to allow homeless people to camp on the steps of a downtown church.

The changes the council will contemplate are to its temporary lodging ordinance, which would allow the city manager to grant permits for camping for up to 30 days and the council to extend up to 60 days.

Changes came about after the council overrode an existing ordinance forbidding camping in the city in response to the First Christian Church, which had given permission for a few homeless people to sleep on the church steps.

The council gave the church permission to host people there for 90 days, although neither church administrators nor the council thought it was a way to deal with the city’s homeless population properly.

“The ordinance was not designed for this purpose,” said Ward 5 Councilor Mike Beilstein. “Also, the problem for the people who complained hasn’t gone away because of this ordinance.”

First Christian Church Pastor John Evans attempted to explain the church’s position on the matter in a column published June 11 in the Gazette-Times.

“There is no homeless camp at First Christian Church ... we want the city to take more responsible steps in dealing with Corvallis’ homeless population.”

By extending the option for groups and organizations to set up a camping area somewhere in town, the council’s Urban Services Committee, which reviewed the ordinance and is suggesting the change to the full Council, hopes to add options for people seeking to solve the city’s homeless problem outside city government.

“Right now, there’s no way for an organization who wants to have somebody to stay to be able to do so on a temporary basis,” said Ward 9 Councilor Hal Brauner. “Let the homeless advocates do their thing and bring forward something.”