Full Notification

To address the health and safety issues at the Roberts Lake Park and Ride lot, we posted the attached notice there today.

This site poses health and safety risks due to its proximity and access to the SMART tracks and crossing. In the past two years, there have been five deaths at that crossing, including two individuals who were experiencing homelessness. For this reason, the City will be closing this to site to all public access.

Over the past five weeks since the camp formed, the City’s service providers have been actively engaging the residents at this camp, offering services, shelter and housing. We have now secured sufficient beds to enable the City to offer shelter to all people staying at the site and will be closing the site to all public access. We are also addressing requests for reasonable accommodations as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

We have consulted with the County Department of Public Health which has indicated that we can proceed. The County Health Department has been actively offering COVID testing, masks and education to those staying at the camp, and working collaboratively with the City and our service providers, including Catholic Charities and Unsheltered Friends Outreach.

We expect to close and fence off the Park and Ride lot and nearby property to all public access on Friday.