Roseburg Council Ends Review of Downtown Campground Sites, Calls for Work Study

After about 75 minutes of discussion Monday, the Roseburg City Council voted 6-2 to stop evaluating the city-owned Phillips and Shalimar parking lots as potential urban campground sites.

The vote ends consideration of those two properties under the current proposal. Council then voted unanimously to hold a work study on what a campground elsewhere in Roseburg could look like.

Councilor Zack Weiss said reviewing the lots had helped identify decisions the city needs to make before choosing a site. “This exercise in looking at these places was incredibly valuable, not for the locations themselves,” he said. Weiss opposed moving ahead with the downtown lots but urged council to keep working through the broader proposal.

Councilor Katie Williams also wanted those questions answered before another property is considered. “I would really like to see us answer these other questions before we are looking at properties,” she said.

Other councilors worried that ending the review would leave the city without a site. Councilor Ellen Porter said, “I agree that the parking lots aren't the greatest option, but right now they're the only option.” Councilors also discussed the need to make progress as another winter approaches.

Weiss’s second motion directed staff to prepare a work study comparing a camp managed by the city, one managed by an outside operator, and a potentially unmanaged camp. The motion passed unanimously. Staff had identified several questions for council to address:

• Would a camp use tents, micro-shelters, or another form of accommodation?
• Who would operate it, and what would that operator be responsible for?
• What restrooms, showers, water, garbage service, electricity, or other facilities would it need?
• Would it be staffed or secured, and what rules would apply?
• Would it be temporary or longer term?
• How would startup and ongoing operations be funded?

Staff’s preliminary layouts showed room for about 41 tent spaces at Phillips and 23 at Shalimar. The layouts were estimates for evaluating the sites, not approved plans.

Both lots are within the city’s downtown exclusion zone. Using either for a campground would have required additional city action and land use approval. Staff estimated four to six months to hire a consultant and prepare a conditional use application, about six months for a local decision, and potentially another year if the matter were appealed to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals.

Councilors also discussed whether a proposal using shelters or other buildings could follow a different approval process than one using tents alone. That question, along with the cost and operating model for any future camp, remains for further study.

The council agenda can be found here.