Council asks staff to vet potential real estate agent as urban campground work continues; residents urge park enforcement and rotation

Roseburg City Council members asked staff to contact a potential real estate agent of record for an urban campground and agreed on minimum preliminary information staff should gather before bringing candidate sites forward for council consideration.

The council discussion Monday focused on what the council wants to see at an early stage of site evaluation: the location, property size, estimated cost and photographs. Councilors also asked staff to add zoning and to report, at a high level, whether water and sewer service are available or would require substantial work.

Why it matters: Council members said they want enough information to decide whether staff should spend more time analyzing a property and to avoid unnecessary expense if the council will not support a site. The topic connects to ongoing community concern about where people experiencing homelessness can legally camp and how to reduce impacts on nearby residents and businesses.

Council direction and process

Councilors were not asked to approve any site Monday. Instead, the council agreed to have staff contact an individual whom councilor Ruth Smith had identified as possibly interested in serving as the city’s real estate agent of record. If that person is interested, staff will invite them to a future council meeting so members can meet the candidate.

Council members described the next step for any candidate site as an executive-session review that would be supported by staff analysis. The council specified a short preliminary checklist it wants staff to gather before deeper study: location, size, cost and photos. Councilors discussed adding zoning and a basic check of utilities (water and sewer) at the preliminary stage, with the caveat that detailed utility analysis could require more time for irregular parcels or “flag lots.” One councilor noted an earlier staff estimate that a site could handle 45 tent sites but said that scale was not required in the initial packet.

Public comment and local business impacts

Three public commenters addressed homelessness and park enforcement during audience participation.

Janelle Kohler, executive director of the Housing Authority of Douglas County and facilitator of the local Homeless Transition Action Group (HTAG), told the council HTAG supports continued engagement on the urban campground concept and expressed interest in the city resuming a homeless commission and reconsidering a homeless coordinator position. “I’m pleased to hear of the efforts being made towards an urban campground on behalf of the HTAG group,” Kohler said.

Sherry Herriman, who said she operates a Bed & Breakfast near Deer Creek Park, described repeated theft, vandalism and trespass incidents at her property and urged the city to adopt a rotation system for camping in city parks to relieve concentrated impacts in Ward 4. “We are strongly encouraging you to implement a rotation system for the city parks for the homeless throughout Roseburg,” Herriman said, adding that guest cancellations and extra security costs have affected her B&B income.

A second resident, who identified himself as Bernie and said nearby businesses are struggling with the park situation, told the council the city’s camping time, place and manner ordinance is not being followed and pressed the city to enforce existing rules. “The time portion of the time, place and manner ordinance is not being followed,” he said.

What was not decided

Council members did not choose a specific site, approve a plan, or authorize acquisition. They did not adopt any new policy or commit funding for a campground at Monday’s meeting. Instead the council’s direction was procedural: staff should check whether the individual suggested by a councilor is interested in serving as the real estate agent of record, and staff should prepare only the minimum site information the council requested before advancing candidate locations for executive-session review.

Next steps

If the suggested agent is willing to serve, staff will invite them to a future meeting. When staff brings a candidate site forward, the council indicated it expects to review preliminary information (location, size, cost, photos, zoning, and a basic utilities check) before asking staff to perform more detailed analysis or make an acquisition recommendation.