Luzerne County Redevelopment Authority to discuss homeless encampment near rail line

A homeless encampment near a rail line in Wilkes-Barre is up for discussion at Tuesday’s Luzerne County Redevelopment Authority Board meeting, the agenda said.

The authority owns the rail line, and the camp is along a section of track near the Cross Valley Expressway in the Parsons section of the city.

Authority Executive Director Margaret Thomas said Monday she sought board discussion because city officials informed her of the matter.

Although this rail line is active, Thomas said she has no evidence that the encampment is impeding railroad operations or getting too close to the tracks.

The authority does not have its own railroad police and would have to rely on city and state police to enforce no-trespassing laws, Thomas said.

Thomas said the encampment is part of a broader issue in addressing homelessness, which is beyond her expertise and authority.

“If you move them out of one area, they will move to another,” Thomas said. “This is the kind of thing that has to be coordinated at the local, county, and state levels. Deciding where people can and can’t be is a government decision. Everybody needs to get involved in resolving this.”

Thomas said she was informed that some of the land impacted by the encampment is also owned by the city and state.

One resident residing near the wooded encampment area expressed safety concerns about the site on Monday. People staying there bring carts of belongings, including mattresses, through the residential neighborhood to reach a path, the woman said, speaking on the condition that her name not be printed.

Encampments at the site have been a problem for years, she said. Residents sometimes attempt to clean up after the camp occupants periodically leave, which is a safety concern, in part due to needles left behind, she said.

A Scott Street man spoke about the matter during City Council’s June 11 meeting, saying city officials have been aware of issues at the site since January, according to a review of the online meeting recording. He said a homeless woman ran into his business in December to call 911 to report her boyfriend was unresponsive. The man helped police and emergency responders access the site so her boyfriend could be revived.

The resident estimated that the debris at the site would fill 15 to 20 garbage trucks. While he is sympathetic and has provided those in need with food, the man told council there is “nothing legal about them being there.”

In a reply to the citizen at the June 11 meeting, City Administrator Charlie McCormick said the city owns a small parcel adjacent to the site, but the primary area of concern is on land owned by the county redevelopment authority and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

The city has notified both the authority and the state, he said. City police also “ran up and down that line asking those people to leave,” McCormick said.

City police “don’t have the ability to force them to leave,” McCormick said.

The property owners can enforce trespassing, but they have not yet posted the required signs at the site for enforcement, he said.

City officials must be “very careful” because matters involving the homeless on someone else’s land, including public land, are “an extremely complicated legal problem,” McCormick said.

City Council Chairwoman Jessica McClay assured the resident garbage at the site will have to be cleaned up.

Regarding homelessness in general, county Manager Romilda Crocamo said the “growing presence of homeless encampments in Parsons and throughout the Wilkes-Barre area is a serious concern that demands our collective attention and action.”

“These are not abstract policy challenges. They are real people living in unsafe conditions and real neighborhoods experiencing real impact,” Crocamo said in a statement.

The county administration “stands ready to be a partner in addressing the crisis,” she said. A solution will require the city, county, human services providers, law enforcement, faith communities, and nonprofits to work together “with compassion and urgency,” she said.

“We must ensure that those experiencing homelessness have access to shelter, behavioral health services, and the pathways they need toward stable housing. At the same time, we have an obligation to the residents and businesses of the communities where these encampments have taken root,” she said.

Tuesday’s redevelopment authority meeting starts at noon in the authority building at 16 Luzerne Ave. in West Pittston. Instructions for the remote attendance option are included in the agenda at www.luzernecountyredevelopment.org.