Must Read Alaska revisited a wooded area in South Anchorage this month, where we first reported in April on sprawling, often multi-level vagrant encampments hidden within a greenbelt near Northwood/Strawberry/Raspberry Road residential neighborhoods.
New drone footage taken by a concerned neighbor in late July shows not only that the camps remain, but that they’ve grown:
The footage, shot over the wooded area reveals an alarming accumulation of trash, debris, and makeshift structures — all on public land and all still untouched by municipal intervention.
Must Read Alaska brought this issue to public attention with drone images capturing the magnitude of the problem: multiple large encampments only somewhat concealed beneath the forest canopy. In April the camps already showed signs of long-term settlement, with some featuring stacked structures, extensive tarps, and large amounts of household items and waste. Neighbors are now calling it an occupation.
“Nothing has changed,” said a source who lives nearby. “If anything, there are more structures, more trash, and more activity. It’s a permanent occupation now.”
Despite repeated complaints from nearby homeowners and calls for action to the Anchorage Police Department and city officials, no visible cleanup or abatement has occurred. It’s SLAZ South — the Mayor Suzanne LaFrance Autonomous Zone.
The Campbell Creek Trail, once a beloved path for runners, cyclists, and dog walkers, has become a “no-go zone.” Reports of open drug use, theft, and vandalism have steadily increased on social media, even as city officials speak of compassion and transitional housing strategies. The new law that passed this month prohibiting occupation of public land has not touched this encampment.
The latest drone footage shows dozens of tarps, makeshift shelters, shopping carts, discarded electronics, and household waste scattered across the forest floor. Some structures are clearly long-established and reinforced, indicating the occupants have little fear of being removed.
A work session of the Anchorage Assembly is set for Monday to discuss another $18 million in grant awards for congregate shelter services in Anchorage.
Meanwhile, Mayor Suzanne LaFrance announced last week a “Beyond the Beige” program to award $100,000 in public money to muralists to paint images on buildings around the downtown area.
Must Read Alaska will continue to monitor the occupation and provide updates as the summer progresses.
Whose Assembly District is this? Brawley or Perez-Verdia?
Featured in travel brochures for the homeless.
Anchorage is considered a top destination. Lots of drugs, alcohol, sex. Local government encourages new developments.
So seriously, Anchorage needs to mirror what Las Vegas does with homeless:
“Recent ordinance in Clark County makes camping in public places illegal, potentially leading to jail time, and a new state law aims to expedite cleanup of encampments along freeways and woods. The area also has various shelters and organizations providing assistance, such as emergency shelters for men, women, and families, As well as:
“The city’s Multi-agency Outreach Resource Engagement (MORE) team conducts daily outreach, working with individuals on health, housing, and employment, and collaborating with the Courtyard Homeless Resource Center for services like medical care, social services, and showers.”
Why is a city like Vegas successful? Because they are not a Liberal run Hovel like Anchorage and their Assembly doing nothing but furthering the problem then throwing their hands up like they don’t know why.
What you ALLOW WILL CONTINUE.
The only way this will change is if the people that live in Anchorage actually get off their duffs and save their town by voting these people out of office that are doing nothing but contributing to the problem!
You cannot allow bums to run rampant. Or you end up with what they have. A serious crime problem with them.
A dog from that camp attacked a guy on a one wheeler and by the time it was over the guy ended up in the emergency room with 27 stitches all over his legs and arms and hands. Cops did F ALL. The cops called animal control, said they could do nothing. Animal control did nothing. In the 1970s, a dog bit a girl in our neighborhood and the cop shot the dog, as it should be. I haven’t heard a peep on the news about it.
I strongly recommend that the Municipality of Anchorage defund the Code Enforcement department and either fire employees assigned there *or* give them jobs they are qualified to do and will perform appropriately. In my experience, code enforcement personnel generally give “free passes” (like to homeless people living in homeless camps — see photos above) and “go after” property owners who bother them with legitimate concerns.
My first encounter with code enforcement took place after my next-door neighbor died in his home. A few weeks later, a group of homeless people moved in without a rental agreement or lease or anything else. I observed these squatters selling or giving away his washer and dryer and other personal property. Crime escalated in our neighborhood and I saw these people “fence” what looked like stolen property. I took photos of all of this. Unauthorized people lived in this home for around three years without water and electricity. They used the fireplace for cooking and stored urine in milk cartons on the front porch. Finally, after black smoke billowed out the windows, AFD showed up and condemned the property. But despite legitimate code violations at this property, APD and code enforcement personnel refused to be involved.
One code enforcement employee told me during a phone conversation that if I was so concerned about the reported violations and danger, I should just stay away from the house (next door to mine). I emailed and called his supervisor. The supervisor backed up his subordinate.
My second attempt to get code enforcement personnel to do their jobs involved my complaints about people I observed urinating and defecating in and around established homeless camps nearby. One man I observed looked like he was in the midst of a bad drug reaction. Again, code enforcement personnel did nothing and suggested that I stay away from these camps.
Now, code enforcement personnel are “going after” me for having too much beekeeping equipment, that I actually use each season, in my yard. One employee asserted incorrectly that I was hiding active honey bee colonies under a blue tarp! At the time the violations and fines were first levied (this has happened twice), I had four colonies of honey bees in my backyard in compliance with the code’s intent AND extra equipment needed to actively manage these colonies, collect swarms from various locations in the Municipality, and treat my bees for pests and diseases. I am a responsible beekeeper and, unlike code enforcement personnel, know how to manage my colonies for optimal health, local pollination, and honey production. I am enrolled in a highly-acclaimed Master Beekeeping program and know what I am doing! As the language in the code was imprecise and confusing to code enforcement personnel (who really do not know about beekeeping), I asked my assembly representative to improve/correct the language. She arranged for this. However, code enforcement’s harassment, fines, and persecution continue.
Code enforcement personnel routinely decide to take no adverse action against those who reside on public property in homeless camps and display actual violations all the time and everyday. They obviously prefer to “go after” property owners, levy fines, and prosecute. My requests for appointments with the municipal manager and/or mayor, to discuss the myriad problems with their code enforcement department, have not been acknowledged.
What is wrong with this picture?
More social decay and degradation, brought to you courtesy of the mindlessly misplaced “compassion”, and also the cowardice, of the radical left.