CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – As concerns mount about the safety of the Free Bridge encampment, Charlottesville city officials are considering relocating the unhoused people currently residing there to the property the city acquired for a low-barrier homeless shelter.

“I’m wrestling with the various challenges that this encampment pose, not only for the individuals who are camping there, but our public who is trying to engage with the trail and with the river itself,” City Manager Sam Sanders said Thursday.

During Wednesday night’s City Council work session on homeless issues, Sanders asked the group about the feasibility of opening a temporary, overnight shelter at 2000 Holiday Drive and indicated the Free Bridge encampment could not continue on in its current state, citing a public health risk and river pollution concerns.

Sanders said open fires are being lit by people bringing propane tanks into the area. He said a fire at the encampment Friday highlighted that issue.

“I’m very nervous about the fact that lives are at risk, and that is not going to be permissible going forward,” Sanders said. “That is something that we’re going to have to work with individuals, because there are individuals who have brought these propane tanks out there in the spirit of helping, but it actually is posing a threat.”

There are about 80 people in the Free Bridge encampment currently.

Sanders said the working group is partnering with Houston-based Clutch Consulting Group, which advises and works with localities and advocacy groups to address homelessness challenges.

One of the services they facilitate along with The Haven is, according to the Clutch website, “Direct to Housing Encampment Response (that) is helping cities across the country resolve encampments, house people living outside, and decrease unsheltered homelessness.”

The group was founded in 2018 by two former City of Houston employees (known at the Clutch City) who claim their initial efforts helped decrease homelessness in that city by 60%.

The consultant working in other cities such as Dallas, Oklahoma City, New Orleans, and Atlanta works to close encampments “with lasting impacts”.

“Communities use housing systems to move people indoors and partner with law enforcement and space managers to keep sites clear, preventing backfill and sustaining progress,” according to Clutch.

In order to do that, they bring street-based medical teams and addiction specialists, outreach workers, housing navigators, and case managers to provide as many services onsite as possible.

“This surge of focus and resources allows communities to house up to 50 or more people and close an encampment within 4-6 weeks,” according to Clutch.

Sanders said finding space in the city is a major hurdle.

“The challenge with their method is there has to be housing vacancy in order to activate what it is that they do,” he said. “They simply pull individuals and place them, and then they pay the rent for a period of time, and we don’t have units so that isn’t necessarily going to work.”

He said they might be able to help some of the people, but it’s necessary to talk about the temporary opening of Holiday Drive as an overnight shelter that PACEM could maybe run.

PACEM is the only provider of overnight shelter outside of the Salvation Army, and the Salvation Army has certain requisites for those to whom they provide shelter.

The city, along with the working group, are working on plans to renovate the Holiday Drive property to a full-service low-barrier facility, but this consideration is in the interim to deal with the Free Bridge encampment issue only.

“We could just potentially just go in and move some remaining furniture pieces around, bring in the appropriate amenities for serving those individuals, and if we have a team capable of serving overnight, they could go ahead and start this.”

In addition at the meeting, Blue Ridge Area Coalition for the Homeless Executive Director Shayla Washington asked Council for building code official review and approval for the interim use of 2000 Holiday Drive.

“My organization at least, BRACH, was hoping to move into Holiday Drive and have bigger office space and operate out of that versus City Space where we’re already getting a little cramped and as you know we had to revise our leasing agreement with you all to expand to four employees ,” Washington told the city leaders.

“We could also use that space for some temporary interim classes or courses for our clients and guests, not talking about a designated campground at that point as that’s way down the line, but we could at least use that building for some interim uses of office space.”