With homelessness rising, city officials continue to fine-tune regulations that govern when, where, and how unhoused people can legally camp in Tigard, and questioned the equity of a countywide response effort they say has the city doing more “heavy lifting” than some neighbors.
City Council, during an Aug. 26 meeting, discussed tweaking the existing Time, Place, and Manner (TMP) ordinance to reduce camping hours at the Public Works building, and additionally called for facilitated talks with Tualatin and Sherwood to explore the division of shared responsibilities.
The conversation comes at a time when Washington County is seeing 15 people become newly homeless for every 10 who transition into housing, Tigard’s city/county homelessness liaison, Megan Cohen, told the Council.
Nightly camping on the Public Works lawn jumped from a handful of residents last winter to 30-40 this summer, a number Cohen says reflects an overburdened system.
“I see a correlation between that number and some of the system capacity pieces we’re experiencing in this moment,” she said.
Shelters are full with long waitlists for services.
Camping on the Public Works lawn is currently permitted from 7 p.m. to 9 a.m., when Tigard Public Library opens. Additionally, the city’s Safe Parking program, which launched in partnership with the non-profit Just Compassion last September, designates parking spaces where people can sleep in their vehicles.
Of the 13 households that have utilized Safe Parking since its inception in July 2024, six have transitioned into housing.
Among possible changes to city regulations discussed – including banning camping on city property – councilors favored maintaining Public Works as a camping spot and bumping the morning exit time from 9 to 7 a.m., when Just Compassion begins daytime services.
The efforts are part of a county-funded regional response to coordinate homeless services. Houseless participants seeking services are directed to an available space, meaning someone in Hillsboro may be directed to the Public Works lawn in Tigard for camping. Conversely, an individual in Tigard could be directed to another community.
Cohen’s position working with Tigard, Tualatin, and Sherwood to facilitate an intercommunity regional response is county-funded.
Two Tigard police officers dedicated to addressing homelessness issues have been proactive in the community, ensuring campers follow TMP regulations. A rise in evictions and dwindling housing subsidies continues to push people into the streets.
Cohen said the dearth of affordable housing paired with a 50 percent reduction in prevention services funds across local, state, and federal sources means “we have nothing preventing inflow into the system.”
An August survey conducted by street outreach providing regular support in Tigard found most campers in the city had Washington County coordinated entry, “which tells us that folks are in Washington County, they’re waiting for services. The majority of those folks were on the shelter waiting list, which is quite extensive,” Cohen said.
More than 50 percent had become homeless in Washington County.
Several Councilors raised concerns that Tigard is disproportionately shouldering the burden within the present framework, noting a need to ensure resources and roles are appropriately balanced.
“We really have lifted hard and heavy to provide resources, and I’m ready to push back and say that we have done more than our share,” said Councill president Maureen Wolfe. “How we collaborate with our next-door neighbors, how we collaborate with our county, just really needs to be escalated, in that this is untenable for Tigard.”
Her statement echoed that of Councilor Yi-Kang Hu, who additionally advocated for enlisting Washington County Commissioner Jason Snider to facilitate a meeting of Tigard, Tualatin, and Sherwood officials to discuss the cities’ combined efforts.
“I talked to Commissioner Jason Snider recently and he said he’s open to facilitating a dialogue among the three cities to really address this so-called regional solution if the majority of City Council are interested,” Hu said.
He expressed frustration that Tigard contributes “significant resources” in the form of affordable houses, policing, providing a safe lot, a shelter, and camping space.
“I’m not afraid of Tualatin and Sherwood hearing me say this,” Hu said. “I think they should step up.”
Leadership in both cities contends that Tualatin and Sherwood are meeting the challenges with equal verve.
Like Tigard, Tualatin, and Sherwood adopted regulations in 2023 to permit camping between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. in designated city-owned locations.
“This is a complex issue, but Tualatin has been engaged and involved and is working to do our part,” said Tualatin Mayor Frank Bubenik.
He noted the city’s first affordable housing community opened in 2024 with 116 units for people earning 30-50 percent of the average median income, and Tualatin gave a $2,500 grant to Community Partners for Affordable Housing to provide residents with wrap-around services, and another $5200 grant to Family Promise of Tualatin Valley.
“Tualatin has been funding the mental health clinician that is a partnership between Tigard, Tualatin, and Sherwood; given Tigard’s size, the clinician spends approximately 50 percent of their time there, with the remainder split between Tualatin and Sherwood,” he said.
Tigard, with a population of about 56,000, is twice the size of Tualatin (about 28,000) and more than double that of Sherwood (about 20,000).
Sherwood Mayor Tim Rosener noted the size gap, saying: “Despite this, we’ve invested local funds and staff capacity into homelessness response and housing affordability efforts.”
Although Sherwood was initially allocated a quarter of Cohen’s liaison time, Rosener said the city has not needed that level of service and ceded time to Tigard.
“Over the last year, I’ve worked closely with and was a member of Metro’s President’s Work Group on SHS, as well as part of the Metro Mayor’s Executive Committee representing the 24 Metro Mayors. Our advocacy has been on reshaping how Metro’s Supportive Housing Services (SHS) funds are allocated, updating the program’s fundamentals, and including all regional partners (cities) in the process. Instead of routing funding solely to counties, we’re advocating for city allocations, especially for cities like Beaverton, Hillsboro, and Tigard that bear significant burdens,” he said.
Additionally, Rosener noted that Sherwood partners with Tigard and Tualatin to help fund the county’s Mental Health Response Team, donating $24,539 in the last fiscal year, and donates $10,000 annually to the Family Justice Center.
“Above all, Sherwood is committed to a compassionate response for our friends experiencing homelessness in our region,” Rosener said. “These are shared challenges, and inter-jurisdictional cooperation, not competition, is the best way to solve them.”
