Neighbors threaten legal action in response to proposed Safe Rest Village site

PORTLAND, Ore. ( PORTLAND TRIBUNE ) — Pearl District residents and business owners are continuing to push back against a Safe Rest Village planned for Northwest Naito Parkway.

“When the inevitable occurs and my clients suffer additional physical abuse and property damage at the hands of the City’s ‘invitees,’ my clients will hold the City, the operator of the SRV, and the owner of the Real Property accountable by seeking compensatory damages, punitive damages and declaratory and injunctive relief,” attorney Ross Day wrote in a letter to Mayor Ted Wheeler and city commissioners earlier this month.

Portland City Commissioner Dan Ryan announced the location, along with three other sites, in early 2022. Ryan had initially said six sites would open in 2021, then eventually pushed that back to the end of 2022. There are still only two official Safe Rest Villages open, though other similar sites, like the Queer Affinity Village on Southwest Naito Parkway, are also operating.

The proposed Northwest Naito Parkway site is on a privately-owned lot next to the Harbor of Hope shelter, which opened in 2019.

Day, a Keizer-based attorney representing a group of Pearl District residents opposed to the Safe Rest Village, said his clients have seen “an increase in drug use, trash, property damage, and even violent crime” since the Harbor of Hope shelter opened.

Read more at PortlandTribune.com .

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