PORTLAND, Ore. — Just over two years ago, the city of Portland opened the Sunderland RV Safe Park in Northeast Portland, envisioned as a shelter site for homeless people accustomed to camping in vehicles along city streets. Now, residents of the camp are preparing to move out, one way or another.
Operated by the Salvation Army, the Sunderland site was modeled after the city’s prior Safe Rest Villages, but with parking spots for RVs instead of shelter pods. It fit up to 55 vehicles and was the first shelter of its kind when it opened.
While the city’s Safe Rest Villages are still going strong, the Sunderland RV Safe Park will soon be gone. The city of Portland owns the land and previously used it to store vehicles for the Portland Bureau of Transportation. When work began on the Safe Park, PBOT moved its equipment to land leased from the Port of Portland. Now, they need the land back…