Homeless encampment near Petaluma’s Steamer Landing Park cleared

The move to clear the encampment from Lind Marine property between Steamer Landing Park and the SMART train tracks to the east came after dozens of police visits to the patch of property in the past six months.|

More than a dozen residents who had been living for weeks near Petaluma’s Steamer Landing Park were rousted from the encampment Friday morning as a city-operated front end loader and excavator cleared campsites.

Petaluma Police gave notice of the camp clearance earlier this week, and stood by as residents and activists, shouting the occasional coarse epithet, scrambled to gather belongings.

The move to clear the encampment from Lind Marine property between Steamer Landing Park and the SMART train tracks to the east came after dozens of police visits to the patch of property in the past six months, Petaluma Police Lt. Tim Lyons said.

“We’ve responded to 151 calls for service here in six months – just this area right here,” Lyons said. “We’re getting complaints from all of the businesses over there have called and complained.”

As many as three dozen residents occupied the encampment near the Petaluma River at any one point, making it one of the larger unsanctioned camps within city limits. Those who remained Friday, including activists and representatives from Petaluma’s Porchlight Coalition, Marin County’s Tam Equity Campaign and the California Homeless Union lamented police tactics.

“All of these people are going to be on this street in an hour,” said Jennifer Restivo, a Petaluma activist, pointing to Hopper Street. “What are we doing to help them? It’s a disgrace.”

In its 72-hour notice provided to residents Monday, police offered a number of resources, including the Committee on the Shelterless’ nearby Mary Isaak Center, which had 33 beds available Friday morning. By the time police began enforcing the exodus, the camp’s numbers had dwindled to about 15, Lyons said.

COTS CEO Chuck Fernandez, who was present at Friday’s sweep along with outreach staff, said Mary Isaak Center staffers had been at the encampment every day this week working to bring people into the shelter.

“That’s their job,” said Fernandez. “It takes such a long time to build trust. You have to be consistent and follow up.”

By mid-morning Friday, as tent spaces and debris dwindled amid the efforts of city crews, a sign lay propped against a lone tree, posing a simple question.

“Where do we go?”

Melody Thornton, 56, said she had talked to COTS staffers earlier in the week, and she planned to seek shelter there. She said she didn’t have anywhere to put her stuff though, and was scrambling Friday to find storage solutions.

“It’s the end of the month, and I don’t have a lot of money,” Thornton said.

Other residents, wary of the congregate living conditions at the Mary Isaak Center, said the sweep essentially left them with nowhere to go.

Fernandez acknowledged rules at the COTS-operated shelter on Hopper Street often irritate residents used to operating, and living, on their own terms.

“The reality is that in congregate living, you have to maintain safety all the time,” Fernandez said. “A lot people don’t like the guidelines we have.”

Sarah Gossage, a Petaluma native, had lived at the Steamer Landing encampment for several weeks with boyfriend Mark van derVen and dog Mary Jane since being booted from a previous spot on McNear Peninsula.

On Friday, Gossage switched between happy chatter while serving coffee from a hot plate near her tent and tears as she recounted the circumstances that led to a life on the streets, as well as her efforts to get more time to leave her riverside campsite.

“The officers told me they were going to work with me,” she said while sharing her concerns about Mary Isaak Center routines. “In eight days, I’m going to get my check, and I’m going to buy a van and I’m going to go to Tahoe.”

Tyler Silvy is editor of the Petaluma Argus-Courier. Reach him at tyler.silvy@arguscourier.com, 707-776-8458, or @tylersilvy on Twitter.

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