PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Community leaders gathered for a town hall meeting Thursday night where they aired grievances with a group of local homeless camps known as “The Avenue of Terror”.

Nearby residents, business owners, cyclists, joggers and even the homeless themselves are fed up with the camps along the Springwater Corridor.

There’s been a steep increase in crime, vandalism and harassment as the camps continue to grow, according to police.

“We have been sending our police in there every day on their ATVs, patrolling the area and really trying to [clamp] down on criminal activity,” Mayor Charlie Hales’ Chief of Staff Josh Alpert said.

At Thursday night’s meeting, the Brentwood-Darlington Neighborhood Association said now is the time for city leaders to take control of the situation.

“I think a defined plan from the city is an essential piece we need to have,” Eric Wikoff said. “If it’s not city, it needs to be collaborative between city and county resources.”

And the answer isn’t a clean sweep of the homeless camps, the group said. It’s far more complex. The community is requesting a comprehensive plan that will clean up the neighborhood while servicing those less fortunate.

“There’s a tendency for the homeless to be shoveled off from one corner to another,” SE Uplift President Robert McCullough said. “I’d like to see the end of that.”

Many hope Thursday’s meeting was just the first step of many on the road to redemption for “The Avenue of Terror”.

Mayor Hales will hold a meeting on the state of homelessness Monday at City Hall. He and other city leaders will discuss solutions to this seemingly out of control problem.