Homeless living in camp will not move after all with city cleanup less than 24 hours away

Sam Rosenstiel | Cincinnati Enquirer

Show Caption Hide Caption Third Street homeless camp moving east The encampment near the Bengals Stadium will be closed and cleaned. Homeless will move to a location on the east side of Cincinnati.

The relocation of the homeless camp under Interstate 71 by Third Street to an undisclosed East Side site set for Tuesday has been canceled, homeless advocates said.

The move, which advocates confirmed was supposed to start 8 a.m. Tuesday, will not happen after all.

Samuel Landis of Maslow's Army said the group will have to come up with a new plan in the meantime and added that the city went back on "its end of the bargain."

But the city's plan for the camp has not changed since Thursday's special session of City Council; the acting city manager pushed back the deadline for campers to leave and brought a mobile health clinic, dumpster and portable toilets to the camp.

More: 'This is all we got': Homeless under highway overpass await their fate

Cincinnati does not support relocating the Third Street camp to any other location in the city, Acting City Manager Patrick Duhaney said in a statement Monday.

"We have not agreed to support relocating anyone from the camp to anywhere other than a designated shelter and/or a more permanent housing situation. This plan does not include any city support for relocating individuals to a new or different camp," Duhaney's statement read.

Duhaney said he and city officials met with camp leaders Friday but did not agree to authorize a relocation or change anything about the eviction plan.

"A productive conversation took place but no decision was made and nothing was agreed to by the city," Duhaney's statement read.

In a statement sent to the Enquirer Tuesday, Landis said he was "surprised and frustrated" by Duhaney's statement. Landis said Duhaney made a "verbal agreement" Friday to support moving the camp to a new site temporarily. Landis also said city officials did not discuss details of a relocation when they met at the camp Monday.

The Department of Public Services will begin cleaning the site at 8 a.m. Wednesday. Workers will erect fencing around the area, according to a July 19 memo to the mayor and City Council.

People were getting ready to leave the camp Tuesday morning, throwing trash into the dumpster, bagging belongings and disassembling tents.

By Tuesday afternoon, some people had set up camp on a hill across from One Lytle Place Apartments by Pete Rose Way and Mehring Way.

Six tents, some chairs and a mattress currently sit atop a concrete hill under a ramp connecting Second Street to Interstate 471 and Columbia Parkway.

On Monday, Landis said campers would move east to an open, concrete space away from the business district with cover and access to transit. He said he stayed there for six years when he was homeless.

He said about 20 residents of the camp would go to the new location. It is unclear where they will go now.

Some people living in the overpass camp have already agreed to go to shelters and applied for housing, and six have received permanent housing certificates. Others are moving into detox programs. Landis credited the progress to the city's six-day extension.

Aaron Bludworth, CEO of Cincinnati company Fern, previously pledged two company trucks and drivers to assist with the move. Bludworth said his trucks were standing by Tuesday morning.