HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-920 - Safe Camping Initiative (8)
CityClerk
From:Hank Still <hankstill518@gmail.com>
Sent:Saturday, June 14, 2025 11:40 PM
To:Agenda Item Comment
Subject:Agenda item regarding proposed unhoused camp adjacent to Park Meadows
neighborhood
Categories:Forwarded, Jonathan
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We as a community and a HOA wrote this up. You may receive repetitive emails that look like this. Please do
not disregard. We feel very strongly about this, please reconsider the placement of the homeless shelter.
My address is 1030 S Kingfisher Ln, Fayetteville, AR 72701
Park Meadows Neighborhood
Fayetteville, AR
June 14, 2025
Dear Mayor and Members of the Fayetteville City Council:
I am writing as a concerned resident of Park Meadows—adjacent to the parcel currently under consideration
for a city-run unhoused camp. My partner and I purchased our first home here just last year, investing
everything we had to build a safe, stable foundation for our future. Park Meadows is a neighborhood known
for families walking to the bus stop, children playing outdoors, and neighbors who look out for each other. We
fully empathize with individuals experiencing homelessness; indeed, my brother was unhoused for five years
(lived in LA skid row, Houston, and New Orleans), and I have witnessed firsthand the difficulties they face. But
placing a camp so close to family homes raises serious concerns—about safety, community well-being, and
practical outcomes—for everyone involved.
1. Community Safety & Crime Concerns
Fayetteville already experiences elevated crime: local data shows an overall crime rate of 38 per 1,000
residents—one in 26 people—small-city high compared to the national averages . Violent crime stands at 4
per 1,000 (1 in 235 chance), and property crime at 34 per 1,000 (1 in 30 chance).
Encampment risks are real: Minneapolis park encampments saw a surge in violent incidents—shootings,
sexual assaults, stabbings, a homicide of a homeless individual—before they were closed . In Vancouver, WA,
an aid center triggered localized crime increases, vandalism, and lure of tenting on nearby streets.
2. Impact on Families & Children
Park Meadows is a family-centered area—kids ride bikes, walk tithe neighborhood, play in our yards. Placing
a camp nearby brings potential for unsanitary conditions, discarded needles, and public drug activity—risks
already evident in cases like Berkeley’s Ohlone Park, which became overrun with human waste, needles,
fights, and a spike in 911 calls .
Even with good intentions, unmanaged camps in residential areas erode neighbors’ sense of safety. Children
and parents should feel secure in their own front yards and sidewalks.
3. Personal Insight & Perspective
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Through my brother’s experience, I understand how precarious life can be without shelter, stability, or
services. I support helping the unhoused—but only in a well-suited location where there is:
Proximity to wraparound services (counseling, detox support, employment training).
Security staffing (ample, definitely more than just one staff on hand At all times), 24/7 monitoring, sanitation
facilities, lighting.
Spatial separation from family neighborhoods and schools.
Unfortunately, the poster-child “makes-sense” location adjacent to Park Meadows meets none of these
criteria.
4. Alternative Locations & Practical Solutions
I respectfully suggest exploring sites better suited for this purpose:
Commercial zones with buffer space (e.g. near north MLK/Greenwood), where facility support and
transportation are available.
Vacant church or nonprofit-owned parcels, allowing structured redevelopment.
Partnerships with existing nonprofits like Goodwill, Mercy Clinic, or local faith groups, which could co-locate
services.
Consider rotating shelters or smaller “navigation centers” with case managers, modeled after programs that
saw crime decrease by ~25%
5. Conclusion & Respectful Request
To honor our shared commitments—to equity, to safety, to community—I respectfully urge the Council to:
Reject placing a large camp adjacent to Park Meadows until a comprehensive services model, operational
plan, and impact analysis are completed.
Locate the camp elsewhere, in areas supported by infrastructure and with geographic separation from family
residences.
Engage residents through town halls and open forums for transparency, input, and accountability.
This is not NIMBYism—it’s about ensuring that compassionate policy is also responsible policy. We all want
unhoused Arkansans to have dignity, safety, and true opportunity—and we also want our children, neighbors,
and new homeowners to feel secure in their haven.
Thank you for your thoughtful consideration. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this with you
further. I unfortunately will be out of town on the day this is being discussed in person otherwise I would
attend.
Respectfully,
Hank Still
Park Meadows, Fayetteville, AR
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