PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A decades-old small business in North Portland says a homeless camp next door is causing tens of thousands of dollars worth of damages in theft, and they’re getting no help from the city.
The goal of Curt’s RV Storage in St. John’s is to give people a safe place to store their recreational vehicles, but the company tells KOIN 6 News that the well-established homeless camp nearby is making it impossible for them to do their job.
The camp is built out with boats, numerous RVs, grills, pop-up tents, stacks of propane and a water tank.
“They got in, they took a brand-new motor home and took it right out the gate. They’re just really bold. They don’t care,” said Tamera White from Curt’s RV Storage.
“They need drugs. They have to have them. And so in order to feed that habit, they have to steal stuff,” added Douglas Bartee, who also runs a small business near the camp.
The business owners at the RV storage company say the constant criminal activity of theft and break-ins on their lot has cost them upwards of $100,000. They told KOIN 6 News that even their brick wall hasn’t stopped anyone from getting over and that they constantly find ladders from people climbing over on either side.
From noise and partying at all hours, to stolen cars being parted out and gunshots fired at night, the company is at a loss, which is why they began putting out jersey barriers to block their gate at night as a last resort.
“It’s frustrating,” Bartee said. “And for Curtis and this family-owned business here, it’s pretty devastating because they get a situation where people can’t trust to have their property stored here.”
“I wish the city could step up and do something” Tamera added. “I wish the police would follow through with their obligations and arrest the ones that have warrants.”
The City of Portland said they’ve completed seven risk assessments at this site since the beginning of July, and due to the high number of vehicles, the city said it requires PBOT’s Parking Enforcement Division to play a lead role in site clean-up and removal. The city also said they prioritize sites based on the risk that sites pose to the community.
A PPB sergeant from the North Precinct told KOIN 6 News that the camp is concerning and definitely on their radar. However, police admitted that they’re bogged down with four other massive camp clean-ups in North Portland right now, including both Cross Levee/Columbia Slough and the Big Four Corners Natural Area.
“Cross Levee/Columbia Slough is nearly complete. We will need to do some follow up work in the next several weeks, but the bulk of the work is complete,” said Heather Hafer, Communications Strategist for the Street Services Coordination Center.
“We anticipate starting Big Four Corners next week, but that project will take several weeks to finish,” she said.
Police and the city say as soon as they’re done addressing those camps, they’ll take a look at the camp by Curt’s RV Storage again.