Emergency Declaration
On Nov. 6, 2023, the Vancouver City Council ratified an emergency declaration related to homelessness in Vancouver.
An emergency declaration is a tool that enables the City to bypass unnecessary procedural delays to swiftly address situations that may cause injury, death, or property damage. In some instances, emergency declarations also provide options to recover money spent on critical or emergency issues to protect the public peace, safety and welfare. Learn more about the emergency declaration at our Frequently Asked Questions.
Emergency Orders
Emergency Order No. 2023-02: Financial and Budget Authority of the City Manager
Emergency Order No. 2023-03: Control and Closure of Public Property, Public Right-of-Ways
Emergency Order 2023-03-I-A: Outside Habitation Expectations for Tent Encampments
Emergency Order 2023-03-II-A: Outside Habitation Expectations for Vehicles, RVs, Trailers
Notice of Property Closure
Following Emergency Order 2023-03, the City Manager may authorize the closure of up to 48 acres of public property and public rights-of-way to address and mitigate the adverse impacts of homelessness. The following parcels are closed to camping and outdoor habitation at all hours and all days.
Feb. 13
Dec. 11, 2023
Closure of 2.54 acres of real property located north and south of Mill Plain Boulevard extension, bridge segment right of way
Closure of 2.13 acres of real property located south of Evergreen Boulevard, North of E 8th Street, between C Street and Reserve Street
Closure of 1.21 acres of real property located immediately south of Vancouver City Hall
Situation reports
Homelessness Emergency Action Plan
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an emergency declaration?
Vancouver Municipal Code, Section 2.12.030 provides that whenever a civil emergency, or the imminent threat thereof, occurs in the City and results in, or threatens to result in, the death or injury of persons or the destruction of or damage to property to such extent as to require, in the judgment of the City Manager or designate, extraordinary and immediate measures, an emergency may be declared to protect the public peace, safety, and welfare.
Why was an emergency declared?
While the City and other partners have worked to address the issue of homelessness over the last several years, the complexity and magnitude of issues related to homelessness continue to grow. The City needs more flexibility to create additional solutions that can be implemented at a faster pace to save lives and address this public health and humanitarian crisis. Moreover, through a variety of inputs the community has been clear that addressing homelessness and related issues is one of their top priorities.
How does an emergency declaration address the issue?
An emergency declaration will enable the City Manager to issue emergency orders that will provide the agility needed to address the evolving issue of homelessness. For example, the first emergency order gives the City Manager the authority to take actions related to budget authority, streamlining processes related to accepting donations, contracting, and procuring needed goods and services that accelerate the implementation of solutions to address the crisis.
What emergency orders have been issued?
Shortly after declaring the state of emergency, the City Manager signed two initial emergency orders. The first order provides increased financial agility – authorizing a streamlined process for accepting donations, accessing financial reserves for budgeting needs, and buying goods and services needed to address homelessness. The second order allows the City Manager to open or close specific parcels of public land up to 48 acres as needed to address this humanitarian crisis while ensuring public health and sanitation needs are being addressed. It also requires compliance with the City’s tent and vehicle camping expectations.
What areas are included in the emergency declaration?
While the issue is regional, the emergency declaration will only be effective within Vancouver’s city limits. The City will continue to work with its regional partners on solutions.
When will the emergency declaration be over?
The emergency will be over once the City Manager presents Council with a resolution voting to rescind the declaration.
Homelessness in Vancouver
What has the City done to address the issue?
Over the years, the City has made significant progress in addressing homelessness and related issues. This includes empaneling an Affordable Housing Task Force, presenting Propositions 1 and 3 to the voters of Vancouver (which established and expanded the Affordable Housing Fund), creating the Homeless Assistance and Resources Team, modifying the City Code to protect environmentally sensitive areas and fire impact areas, opening four Safe Stay Communities, a Safe Park, and funding other supportive housing programs.
How does the City know how many homeless individuals there are in Vancouver?
The State of Washington requires each county to conduct a census of individuals experiencing homelessness, this is called the Point in Time Count (PIT). The PIT is administered by the Council for the Homeless and provides a countywide count of individuals living unsheltered, those living in shelter, and transitional housing programs. The PIT Count is conducted once a year and provides a snapshot of trends related to homelessness over time. Results of the January 2024 count are expected to be published this June.
In addition to the PIT, the City’s HART team conducted a separate count of unsheltered individuals living only within Vancouver City limits in summer 2023. This count enabled the City to obtain more in-depth information about individuals living unsheltered, including where they’re from and what barriers they face. More than 500 individuals were living unsheltered in Vancouver based on this count.
HART will complete a new count of those living unsheltered in Vancouver City limits again this summer.
How many people were counted in the last PIT count?
The last PIT count was conducted in January. At the time of the count, there were 1,300 homeless individuals in Clark County and 672 of them were unsheltered. The results of the PIT Count also showed a 54% increase in chronic homelessness and 78% increase in chronic unsheltered homelessness since 2022. Results of the January 2024 count are expected to be released this June.
What is the difference between chronic and unsheltered homelessness?
Chronic homelessness is when someone has experienced homelessness (whether sheltered, e.g., Safe Stays/Safe Parks or unsheltered) for a year or more, or more than four times in a three-year period, and also has a disability.
Unsheltered homelessness is when someone is living in a place not meant for human habitation, e.g., outdoors (with or without a tent), in a vehicle, in a structure with no running water/utilities, etc.
Why can’t you make camping within the City limits illegal?
Federal court decisions (Martin v. Boise and Johnson v. Grants Pass) prevent cities in the Ninth Judicial Circuit from penalizing camping or outdoor habitation in all places, at all times, unless an adequate supply of temporary housing is reasonably available to people who lack the financial means to pay for housing.
What is the City’s approach to clearing encampments?
Camp removal and displacement of people are assessed on a case-by-case basis depending on environmental impacts, public safety and user conflicts. Considerations include:
- public safety, including for the people who inhabit the camps
- potential for significant environmental impacts
- potential user conflicts
- available resources
Clean-up notices are posted at least 24 hours in advance, and several entities are often involved, such as HART, community outreach teams, Public Works, Talkin’ Trash, and sometimes code enforcement, police, fire and crisis response, if needed.
When the City removes an encampment on public property, a minimum 72-hour notice is provided. We look for the safest options for cleaning the camp, often hiring a contracted company that uses best practices, safe collection and trauma-informed care. Personal items, documents, money and jewelry are not thrown away but collected and inventoried, then stored for 60 days while HART works to reunite individuals with their items. Service providers and other community resources are notified in advance to be on hand for support and outreach ahead of time.
Read the City’s full standard operating procedures for encampment response on our HART page.
Where can I report an issue related to homelessness?
Use the MyVancouver mobile app or City website to report issues to the HART team or ask questions related to homelessness in Vancouver, including non-emergency issues, such as behavioral health concerns, unwanted occupation of property, etc. Illegal camping or issues associated with active or abandoned camps. For urgent issues requiring a police officer, please call 9-1-1.