Homeless Tent City Declared Legal Campsite
A one-acre tent city established by Portland’s homeless has won the right to be called a campground, a designation that makes it legal.
The 60 residents of the area, called Dignity Village, have battled for four years to gain legal recognition for their encampment of tents, scavenged planks and cardboard boxes, all of which violate the city’s zoning codes if defined as housing.
The campground status, which four of five city officials voted for Thursday, gave them the right to stay in their self-regulated tent city.
“Usually, when I became homeless, I went into the woods,” said Tim McCarthy, the village’s treasurer. “I was all alone -- this was the first chance I had to be around other people in the same situation.”
Critics of the tent city argued that the focus should instead be on creating affordable housing, but supporters say that solution would take years to implement.
Dignity Village, founded by eight homeless people, has grown to include its own village council, elected officers, a website and nonprofit status.
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