MIDDLEBURY ­— Middlebury officials are in the early stages of crafting the town’s first “encampment policy.”

The document will guide the community in regulating the makeshift campsites that houseless individuals have been creating and using for shelter — primarily in the downtown and greater village areas — during the warmer months of the year.

The Middlebury Policy Review Committee has developed an initial draft of an encampment policy that the selectboard will consider early next year.

Andy Hooper, a selectman and member of the policy review panel, hopes the encampment rules will be in place in time for next summer, when houseless individuals tend to return to the Middlebury. The shire town is home to the Charter House Emergency Shelter, a coalition of religious institutions that provide free meals, and a network of social service agencies that assist folks with housing, substance use disorder and mental health challenges.

Middlebury officials decided to develop an encampment policy patterned after one in effect in Montpelier, the Independent first reported in September.

“This is structured as policy, a procedure — it is not written as a law or ordinance having fines or criminality,” reads a preamble in the current draft. This policy is focused on encampment but does not address what to do with homeless people if they are hanging out in public buildings.

Speaking of the Ilsley Library, the town last week issued a series of “vacate notices” to around a half-dozen folks who were living in an encampment off Bakery Lane, behind the library and adjacent to a Green Mountain Power electricity vault. The move to clear that encampment was driven by safety, emergency access and winter maintenance issues, according to town officials (see story on Page 1A).

Middlebury’s draft encampment policy — which officials stressed is still a work in progress — calls for, among other things:

• A “compassionate and effective approach to addressing the needs of unhoused individuals living in encampments within the town.”
• Trauma-informed protocols to guide any relocation of those living in an encampment that is determined to be unsafe and/or a health hazard or located in a restricted location.
• A ban on encampments “on the premises of a town or other government building (including the town offices, library and recreation center), public or private school, hospital, childcare facility, or adult day-care facility.” The ban also extends to the premises of a business, residence, or other privately-owned land and upon which the town has been requested to intervene and enforce an encampment no-trespassing order; cemeteries, monuments, public greens or parks; town highway rights-of-way, lane of traffic, parking lot, sidewalk, bike lane, electric substation or transformer; a designated environmentally protected or recognized wildlife habitat area; or mountain biking or hiking trails (including the Trail Around Middlebury).

The document doesn’t reference areas where encampments might be acceptable. Advocates acknowledged that a community could open itself up to lawsuits and/or substantial financial responsibilities if it sanctions encampments in specific areas.

• Prioritizing “respect and dignity, treating all individuals with respect, and recognizing their humanity and rights.”
• Encouraging “self-determination, by involving those with lived experience of being unhoused in decision-making processes.”

The draft policy also places a premium on “engagement and support,” calling on members of the Addison County Housing Coalition (ACHC) — in collaboration with town staff — to “implement regular outreach efforts to engage with unhoused individuals in encampments.” This includes offering access to shelter/shelter wait lists, as well as providing basic needs support onsite — such as food, water, hygiene supplies, and medical care.”

Outreach workers have a right to expect encampments to be safe and accessible, located away from high-traffic areas, while not impeding utility services and/or emergency services, or cause safety or access concerns for the public in its travel to municipal/school buildings, parks, sidewalks, trails and parking lots, according to the draft policy.

Those tending to folks at the encampments will “use trained mediators to resolve conflicts between unhoused individuals and community members,” and will be trained in “de-escalation techniques used in situations that could lead to confrontations,” according to the draft.

The town manager, in collaboration with ACHC, will determine when an encampment is unsafe, a health hazard, or located on a restricted parcel, the draft policy states. Occupants of encampments deemed to be in violation of the policy will be given an as-yet-undetermined deadline to relocate. The policy committee had considered 30 days, but members theorized serious health or safety issues could warrant a swifter exit from an encampment.

Using “trauma-informed protocols,” outreach workers will support houseless persons in their relocation, according to the policy. In cases where encampment residents decline to relocate, police may be called upon to escort people from the site, according to the draft.

In cases where police must clear an encampment, personal property will be logged, photographed and stored at Middlebury PD for up to 30 days, after which time the town may dispose of the items, the draft policy states.

Plans call for the policy to be an evolving document, based on feedback and a quarterly evaluation by town officials.

A GOOD START

Among those who’ve worked on the policy are Hooper and John Graham Housing & Services Executive Director Susan Whitmore, who chairs both the ACHC and a subcommittee tasked with drafting a “trauma-informed” first draft of the document. The coalition’s input has focused primarily on ensuring the policy deals respectfully and humanely with houseless individuals, while making sure they aren’t set adrift if an encampment must be removed.

Whitmore said she believes Middlebury’s encampment policy is off to a good start, and she’s been impressed by the collaborative way the document is being assembled. Human services, police and municipal officials have all had a hand in the process.

Hooper said while he believes the policy “still needs a fair amount of work,” he saluted the “incredible strength of the relationship between the social services organization, which gives us the latitude to write a really respectful policy that incorporates non-municipal actors.”

Asked if he could identify a weakness in the draft, Hooper said the document needs more detail on what might trigger enforcement on an encampment, the timeframe for taking action, and who will be the key decision makers.

“It doesn’t quite have the guidance with escalation procedures, in the way we need to make sure we’re responsive to community safety issues,” he said.

Hooper praised the Middlebury community for helping the homeless population. At the same time, he said he understands growing concern about the makeshift encampments popping up in prominent downtown areas, with some of the campers displaying behavior — such as loud arguments, public drinking and occasional fistfights — that has required police response.

“All of these things are very complicated,” Hooper said. “There’s been a lot of discourse recently about how a feeling of disorder creates a sense of lawlessness — even if it’s not criminal, you get this sense of unease and a sense of society fraying a bit because of public disorder.”

Could other Addison County communities be developingtheir own encampment policies?

Whitmore estimated there are still five to 10 people camping outside in places other than Middlebury, primarily in parts of New Haven.

“There may be even more that we’re not aware of,” she added.

The John Graham Shelter in Vergennes is full, with 15 families on its waiting list, according to Whitmore. Families are currently spending an average of 125 days at the shelter. That’s actually down significantly from last year’s average of 230 days, she said.

The Independent reached out to Charter House Emergency Shelter Executive Director Heidi Lacey, but was unable to connect with her by Wednesday’s deadline.

John Flowers is at [email protected].