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Hillsboro business owners tell council Project Homeless shelter is straining public safety and businesses
Summary
A business leader told the council that a Project Homeless Connect site and existing encampment activity near Oak and Baseline is increasing crime calls and stretching police resources; the speaker asked the city for help and a good‑neighbor agreement.
At the Jan. 21 Hillsboro council meeting, Trisha Raby, speaking for local business owners, urged the city to address crime and public‑safety impacts she said are linked to Project Homeless Connect activity near Oak and Baseline.
Raby said Project Homeless Connect is "coming into Hillsboro on, between Oak and Baseline on Sixth Street" and told the council the site is "starting to break ground on their new building, which is going to be three stories high in a very small area there." She said business owners report a rise in crime and that city resources are stretched.
"The crime rate has increased phenomenally in that area and our Hillsboro police department has been struck very hard," Raby told the council, adding that auxiliary and regular officers respond frequently and that the system is feeling the strain. She asked the council to help the business community negotiate a "good neighbor agreement" and to coordinate responses to reduce impacts on long‑standing, family‑run businesses in the area.
Nut graf: The comment is a public‑comment appeal rather than a council policy action. City staff and council members acknowledged the comment and said staff could follow up; no formal council action or referral was recorded during the meeting.
What the speaker asked for
Raby asked the council to: - Help the local business community reach a good‑neighbor agreement with Project Homeless Connect. - Consider the public‑safety cost of shelter‑ and service‑site operations and how those calls affect police and fire workloads.
Clarifying detail from the speaker
- Location cited: between Oak and Baseline on Sixth Street. - Police staffing comment: "the Hillsboro police has now gone from basically 6 divisions through Hillsboro down to 4," as reported by the speaker.
Council response
Council members thanked Raby for coming and asked staff to follow up; no formal directive, vote or public‑safety ordinance was adopted at the meeting on this item.
Ending: Raby said she will continue to pursue the issue and work with city staff and the business community to find solutions.
