The City does not have the lawful authority to address camping or camping-related trash on property that is not owned or maintained by the City. The City can only send crews to assess campsites on City property.
Resources to address camping or related impacts on your property:
If there are people, structures, or camper’s personal belongings on your property, the Impact Reduction Program recommends the following:
- Call the Public Safety Non-emergency Dispatch Line at 503-823-3333.
- When you reach the automated system, say that you need to “report trespassing”. You will then be connected to a non-emergency call taker.
- Tell the call taker that you have a person trespassing on your property, you need police assistance, and you would like to press charges. When speaking to the non-emergency call taker, it is most helpful to describe the specific activity and not to address the individual’s socio-economic status. Often, the operator may hear the word “homeless/transient/vagrant” and redirect them back to One Point of Contact, when issues of trespassing can only be handled by Police.
- The Impact Reduction Team also recommends posting a notice on your property informing individuals that it is private property and any personal property that is there after 24 hours will be disposed of. Take a photo of your notice.
- If necessary, contact a crew or biohazard vendor to clean your property, see below.
If there is trash or human waste on your property from any person, the City does not have the authority to clean it up.
The City contracts with Rapid Response BioClean and City of Roses - Community Restoration to provide cleanup services. These companies can be hired to clean up private property as well.
- Rapid Response BioClean
503-477-8756 option 1
- City of Roses - Community Restoration
(503) 285-9940
Reporting camping or related impacts on someone else’s private property:
If camping is occurring on private property other than your own, please report the issue to the City’s Bureau of Development Services. A Code Enforcement Officer will investigate the report and work with the property owner to bring the property back up to code.
Questions?
If you have additional questions, please contact PDX 311 at 3-1-1, 503-823-4000, or 311@portlandoregon.gov.