A Maricopa County Superior Court judge on Tuesday denied the city of Phoenix's request to extend the Nov. 4 deadline for clearing The Zone, the city's largest homeless encampment, but the city said the deadline would have been set after a hearing. An appeal against the order is proceeding.
This is Phoenix's second appeal of the lawsuit filed by people who live and work near The Zone, alleging it is a public nuisance. The first appeal stemmed from a preliminary, pre-trial order in the case requiring the city to begin removing people from The Zone. That appeal is still pending.
On September 26, the city of Phoenix asked Judge Scott Blaney to suspend the order, giving the city just six weeks to remove the zone.
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Mr. Blaney's order puts the city of Phoenix in an “untenable” position, city attorneys said in the request. The order in a separate federal lawsuit says Phoenix city officials “are prohibited from enforcing camping bans against individuals who have virtually no access to shelter as long as there are more people present.” Stated. There are more unsheltered people in Phoenix than there are shelter beds available. ”
Blaney denied a request for an extension of time to appeal, but the city's argument that removing The Zone by Nov. 4 could fill existing shelters and violate a federal court order. I didn't touch it. Mr. Blaney said the residents and business owners who filed the lawsuit “face far greater challenges” if the deadline is extended than they would face if Phoenix met the deadline.
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Phoenix has cleared nine blocks in The Zone since May. Another block is expected to be cleared later this month. Nearly 1,000 people lived at the encampment during the summer, but a recent count by homeless advocacy group leaders estimates that about 500 people are still living in the area.
Helen Rumel covers housing insecurity and homelessness for The Arizona Republic.please contact her hrummel@gannett.com.
Housing insecurity coverage on azcentral.com and The Arizona Republic is supported by a grant from the Arizona Community Foundation.
