Chico back in court for homeless encampment settlement dispute

CHICO — For the third time since the settlement agreement of Warren v. Chico allowed the city to continue homeless camp removals given that it provides appropriate shelter spaces, the city will once again be appearing in court over a dispute with Legal Services of Northern California.

Judge Kendall Newman, who presides over the agreement, issued an order Friday scheduling an informal video conference with Chico and LSNC set for 9 a.m. Oct. 6 to discuss the dispute that blocked the city Thursday from issuing 7-day enforcement notices to campers at Humboldt Park.

In a news release by Chico on Thursday, the city stated LSNC wanted the city to resolve reasonable accommodation requests before they are placed in a shelter space. It also said LSNC did not want the city to ask people to fill out property abandonment forms.

City Manager Mark Sorensen said the delay to continue enforcement appears to be a tactic by LSNC, but he said he does not know why.

“There doesn’t appear to be any valid reason to delay the process at this moment in time, as there didn’t appear to be a good reason to delay the process back in August,” Sorensen said. “That’s something you’ll have to ask them about.”

The Legal Services of Northern California was reached out to by phone, but declined to comment.

Sorensen said LSNC’s requests would make the city have to assess what is “effectively” ADA requests which would be a big time sink and cause further delay.

Sorensen said the plaintiff’s counsel wants to micromanage the assessment process, but the city manager declined to comment further on what accommodating a reasonable request would look like.

According to the settlement agreement, signed Jan. 13, 2022, the city’s outreach and engagement teams must assess whether a shelter space is or is not an appropriate shelter space.

At minimum, the agreement states that a Pallet shelter or a bed at the Torres Shelter is not an “appropriate shelter space” for a person when:

• The shelter cannot accommodate the person’s physical, mental disabilities.
• The shelter’s hours unreasonably impair or hinder a person’s ability to work, school or activities.
• Families are involuntarily separated into two or more units.
• The person is disqualified because of restrictions beyond their reasonable control, such as having pets the shelter does not allow.
• The shelter space requires mandatory religious or other programs.
• The shelter only offers a mat and not a sleeping bed.
• The shelter space cannot provide appropriate single-gender placement for someone who objects to mixed-gender placement.

Humboldt Park

The number of camps at Humboldt Park has grown in recent weeks. Sorensen said his last figure states 45 people were counted living at the park. Volunteers at the North State Shelter Team, which visits the park each Friday, said they counted around 90.

Most camps are on the park space itself while others have been set up inside the Little Chico Creek Greenway. There were no portable toilets seen Friday. Two dumpsters were set up nearby and are funded by the Sierra Club Blue Oak Group.

With gates around Comanche Creek Greenway and other areas of Chico under enforcement, North State Shelter Team President Charles Withuhn said there aren’t many places to go if Humboldt Park is cleared.

“History has shown they move northward into your neighborhood,” Withuhn said. That’s where they go; to alleys, bike paths, some other place that’s vacant where they can hide and not get robbed or beaten up in the middle of the night.”