Mayor Charlie Hales on Monday unveiled a four-pronged strategy to grapple with homelessness in Portland, including new plans for legalized outdoor camps and overnight tent camping in certain locations.

The controversial strategy focuses only on short-term fixes that can be evaluated for six months and is separate from broader efforts to build more affordable housing.

The plan -- once fully implemented -- will carry the most obvious changes in how Portland addresses homelessness since the City Council declared an emergency last fall. As envisioned, city-approved homeless camps could spring up in some neighborhoods and the prevalence of overnight tents may grow.

Portland's mayor has the power to unilaterally implement the plan and will do so without formal City Council approval, said Josh Alpert, Hales' top aide. Hales rolled out details during a 3 p.m. public meeting where no public testimony was received.

Homeless advocates praised the plan even as some citizens privately grumbled about the city's recent lack of clarity, allowing homeless camps such as Hazelnut Grove to spring up.

It's "all experimental," Alpert emphasized in an interview before the meeting. "We're going to try this for six months. We will continue to tinker with it daily."

The strategy remains largely vague but is focused on four key areas where Hales thinks the city can do better:

1) Tents

Overnight sleeping on city sidewalks will be allowed, provided that homeless Portlanders use only a sleeping bag and tarp, do not block the sidewalk, and do not exceed six sleepers in one location. Tents are not allowed on sidewalks.

But tents will be allowed from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. in certain locations, such as city-owned property that is not a sidewalk. The city plans to release examples of property where overnight-only camping would be allowed.

The guidelines don't apply to parks, although the Portland Parks Bureau generally hasn't gone out of its way to fight off overnight tent camping.

"No one should have a tent up in this city all day," Alpert said.

2) Organized camping system

Alpert hopes to establish several -- perhaps 10 -- city-sanctioned campsites that must be linked to a nonprofit service provider.

Campers wouldn't necessarily sleep in tents. Instead, the city may order a "couple hundred" disaster-relief pods that homeless Portlanders could sleep in, Alpert said. Later, those pods could be reused by the city in the event of a wide-scale disaster.

The locations of such campsites would be established with the help of neighborhood associations, Alpert said.

"It'll be temporary," Alpert said of the campsites.

3) Organized car/RV system

Similar to the camping system, the city would designate property where homeless Portlanders could legally camp in cars or RVs. Church parking lots are an obvious choice, Alpert said.

Any site would require city approval and would need to be affiliated with a nonprofit service provider.

4) More temporary shelter space

Alpert said the city is looking at three or four locations in the hopes of securing more temporary shelter space. He wasn't ready to speculate how many beds could be added to the system or when they'd be ready.

Alpert, Hales' new chief of staff, has taken the lead on rethinking the city's approach to homeless sweeps. The city's old strategy of conducting 15 to 20 daily sweeps hasn't been effective, he said.

By offering four clear options for where homeless Portlanders can sleep each night, Alpert said, police should be able to conduct more targeted enforcement when necessary.

City officials plan to educate campers and residents about expectations over the next few weeks before beginning light enforcement efforts.

If the strategies prove effective, Alpert said, Hales may ask the City Council to formally adopt them this summer or fall.

Monica Goracke, a lawyer for the Oregon Law Center who has battled Portland on its homelessness enforcement, called the changes "progressive" and "rational."

"This is an opportunity to lead out of chaos," she said.

Hales didn't say much during Monday's two-hour hearing but called Alpert's plan "the right model." Commissioners Amanda Fritz and Steve Novick offered little input. Commissioner Dan Saltzman, who oversees the Portland Housing Bureau, was in Salem lobbying for inclusionary zoning and didn't attend the hearing.

But Commissioner Nick Fish, who oversaw the housing bureau from 2009 to 2013, said he worried the city may make unwise investments.

Fish said Portland's housing strategy is "out of whack" and asked how the city can provide more permanent housing for residents at the lowest end of the income scale, not those with higher incomes.

"We are building housing that doesn't solve this crisis," he said. "We have to figure out how to bridge that divide."

Alpert said no one believes camping is a better policy solution than long-term housing. But given that nearly 1,900 people are estimated to sleep on the streets each night, he said, "there is an understanding that we have to try stuff."

"We're not in a policy world right now," he said. "We're in reality."

After the meeting, Alpert confirmed that the plan is a go: "We're moving forward."

-- Brad Schmidt

503-294-7628

@cityhallwatch