MINNEAPOLIS — The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board voted Wednesday to restrict the size of homeless camps, setting in motion a plan to break up two large groups at Powderhorn Park, where shootings, sexual assaults and other violent incidents have rocked the neighborhood since early June.
The park board limited encampments to 25 tents per site and created a permit system to give volunteers more oversight of vulnerable populations. After public pressure from the Powderhorn neighborhood, the board scrapped an exemption at the last minute that would have provided for a slower transition at the Powderhorn Park camps due to their overwhelming size.
More than 300 tents currently occupy Powderhorn Park, according to documents provided by the board, meaning staff will need to identify alternate locations for people to move. That work is already underway, with buffer zones under consideration for school zones and residential areas.
The board’s decision thrilled neighbors in Powderhorn, including Russ Adams, who lives about a block away from one of the encampments. Late Tuesday night, Adams invited KARE 11 – and Park Board District Three Commissioner AK Hassan – to observe activity at the homeless encampments. Shortly before 10:30 p.m., loud yelling could be heard during a confrontation, which then led to a woman clinging atop the hood of a vehicle as it sped down the street (After receiving multiple 911 calls, Minneapolis Police responded but did not locate anyone involved. A spokesperson said the woman was not hurt).
Adams chased the car down the street – and pointed to the incident as just one example of the danger this neighborhood faces each night.
“This is not safe for anyone,” Adams said. “We called two domestics today. We had an overdose right in front of my house. And some guy got shot on the other side of the park, in the face and the arm.”
Adams, Commissioner Hassan and other neighbors gathered on a porch across from the encampment as midnight approached, describing what they considered a relatively “quiet” night. Loud music played and cars moved at high speeds through the streets, but no major issues occurred. But neighbors remained on edge, considering the incidents police have reported in just the past two weeks: sexual assaults, robberies at knife-point and gunpoint, and multiple shootings.
As Hassan watched the developments overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, he vowed to take some sort of action.
“What I saw,” he said, “wasn’t acceptable.”
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But he also acknowledges the complexity of the homeless problem, not only at Powderhorn but also at the nearly 30 other encampment sites across Minneapolis.
“Some of the people that are staying here, they do need mental health,” he said. “This is more than just a home, finding homes for them.”
Although enforcement action will be a “last resort” under the new restrictions, board members said at the meeting Wednesday that volunteers or non-profits could lose their permits if they do not follow the rules. Removal is also a possibility if encampments grow larger than the 25-tent limit.