PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A legal battle is heating up in Portland’s Pearl District.
The owners of Oro Apartments have filed a lawsuit against the city of Portland and the Salvation Army, claiming that a 200-bed shelter nearby on Northwest Northrup Street caused property values to drop.
litigation Claims the city is liable for nuisance and neglect, and claims more than $5 million in value loss has been caused since the shelter opened.
Residents and managers say they deal with open drug use, trash and human waste on the sidewalks every day.
The lawsuit also claims the city failed to follow its own guidelines for perimeter inspections and community cleanups.
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson has previously defended the site, saying expanding shelter space is an important part of the city’s plan to address homelessness and enforce the camping ban.
The city of Portland released a statement about the lawsuit, saying in part that their shelters are “saving lives.”
“As of February 12, NW Northrup Shelter has provided 11,304 nights of safe sleep to people experiencing homelessness in Northwest Portland, serving more than 1,500 unique individuals.
In a week of falling temperatures and freezing winter rains, this threatening legal action seeks to take lifesaving emergency care away from our most vulnerable. The city of Portland estimates that before the shelter opened, about 600 people were homeless in the Pearl District and Northwest. The Notice of Claimed Tort ignores the clear reality that widespread homelessness existed in the Pearl District even before the opening of the temporary emergency shelter that was part of the solution to the suffering on our streets.“
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