SF moves to clear Division Street homeless encampment

Ashante Jones (right), homeless resident, accepts some fries from Carrie Hamilton, San Francisco resident, as he stands outside his tent on 13th Street on Tuesday, February 23, 2016 in San Francisco, California. less Ashante Jones (right), homeless resident, accepts some fries from Carrie Hamilton, San Francisco resident, as he stands outside his tent on 13th Street on Tuesday, February 23, 2016 in San Francisco, ... more Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 25 Caption Close SF moves to clear Division Street homeless encampment 1 / 25 Back to Gallery

Amid a growing sense of crisis over the encampment of homeless people along Division Street, San Francisco health officials moved Tuesday to declare the tent city a health hazard and tell people living on the sidewalk that they have 72 hours to pack up and move.

City workers planned to post notices saying the area “is now in violation of health codes and is not inhabitable,” said Rachael Kagan, a spokeswoman for the Department of Public Health.

Police Chief Greg Suhr said it was unclear what will happen to anyone who remains after the 72-hour deadline expires. He did not say whether those who stayed would be arrested.

Mayor Ed Lee also didn’t offer specifics Tuesday for how the city will deal with stubborn campers. As he toured the city’s newest homeless shelter at Pier 80, he said, “We’ll get to those situations on a case-by-case basis. ... We’re going to encourage people first to get out of those situations and persuade them. Persuasion usually means a backup from people who say you can’t be here.”

Lee said public health officials were already posting notices at the Division Street encampment — a stretch of roadway under the remains of the Central Freeway, south of Market Street — as well as encampments at 16th and Market streets and 18th and Sanchez streets.

Asked for a timeline on when the tents would be gone, the mayor said it was a matter of weeks.

“Once we clean up the area, we expect the area to be kept clean and not be re-encamped,” Lee added.

Kagan said health officials had decided to act after inspectors with the department’s environmental health unit visited the camp and observed unsanitary conditions there.

The Division Street encampment has become a problem for Lee, who had hoped the area would clear out when the city opened its 100-bed shelter at Pier 80. The idea was to entice homeless people with security, showers and services, but many of the Division Street dwellers have chosen to remain where they are.

Complaints from neighbors and businesses have been increasing, and in some places the sidewalks have become so clogged with tents that pedestrians must walk in the streets. Sanitary conditions have deteriorated, and drug users’ discarded needles have become common.

The city’s Public Works agency has been sending crews to do what they can to clean up the area for weeks. The health department’s “hot team” has also been on site, urging campers to move to Pier 80 or other city shelters.

“We have been doing what we always have been doing,” said Public Works spokeswoman Rachel Gordon.

On Tuesday morning, however, officers from the California Highway Patrol and San Francisco police were also on hand, according to witnesses. The CHP officers were overheard telling campers to move on, while San Francisco police stood back.

As for what happens when the 72-hour deadline is up? “The Department of Public Works will go in like they did with the Occupy encampment,” Suhr said, referring to incidents during the fall of 2011 in which police stood guard while Public Works dismantled the tents of protesters who had been camping at Justin Herman Plaza for over a month.

“We will be there in support to make sure that nobody gets hurt,” Suhr said.

The timing of Lee’s Pier 80 tour was no coincidence. City Hall sources tell us the mayor was trying to show the public that there is an alternative to sleeping on the streets. Having the health department take the lead on declaring Division Street uninhabitable was intended in part to deflect criticism that Lee’s administration is criminalizing homelessness.