Updated sanctioned homeless camp resolution makes its way to Anchorage Assembly

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - The Sanctioned Camps Community Task Force met Thursday for the first time since the Anchorage Assembly delayed discussion on its resolution over a week earlier.

Assembly member Felix Rivera laid out a new resolution for the task force, which will be presented to the Assembly during Friday’s work session at City Hall.

On May 23, the Assembly voted to not include the task force’s resolution for sanctioned campgrounds on the meeting agenda. The task force has established five potential homeless camps with amenities. Those amenities would possibly include dumpsters, portable bathrooms, clean water, and offices.

The resolution contains the same idea, Rivera explained. However, some new updates include revised dates on the agenda. The previously listed dates have been pushed back to June 19, and certain landowners’ names were also not listed.

“A lot of them were made because of the resolution not making it onto the assembly calendar, the assembly agenda for the last meeting,” task force leader Caroline Storm said. “So, we just had to shift several dates back several weeks. And we removed the very contentious naming of private property owners.”

Community members also continued to press for ongoing public safety, stressing concerns regarding camp locations being near children and what security measures would be taken into place.

“Whenever you discuss homelessness or shelters or sanctioned camp, really any of it, there is always a lot of concerns about safety,” Rivera said. “So certainly that is something we want to handle front and center. We want to make sure we are dealing with safety both for the people who would be in the sanctioned camp and for the uses surrounding the sanctioned camp.”

The Assembly will hold a work session Friday at 10:50 a.m. to discuss the updated sanctioned campsites resolution. The meeting will take place in room 155 at City Hall.

The Assembly will then meet on June 6, where the resolution will most likely appear on the agenda. According to Rivera, both meetings will not have a public comment session, so community members wishing to share commentary are recommended to email Assembly members.

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