LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Spring Valley neighbors tell FOX5 a homeless encampment in a wash behind their houses is causing fear throughout the neighborhood.
Thursday morning, Clark County Commissioner Michael Naft, Las Vegas Police, and Help of Southern Nevada met with neighbors to discuss long term solutions for the wash between Rainbow and Jones.
“We have homeless people walking through our yards to get to the wash, and throwing trash in our yards,” one neighbor says, who wanted to stay anonymous. “We’ve had a lot of break ins here in the neighborhood, and we just want to feel safe again, that’s all we’re asking is to feel safe.”
It’s not just trespassing that’s concerning neighbors. Another anonymous neighbor says he fears his pine trees, which hang over his fence, will catch on fire.
“They’re out there cooking and staying warm during the winter months and it is absolutely terrifying to think there’s a fire underneath those branches,” he says. “If that tree goes up, there are going to be at least three houses that burn immediately.”
Naft says the county is well aware of the problem. The County’s Public Works Department has cleared the wash between Rainbow and Jones nine times in the last twelve months.
“Unless there’s long term permanent results it’s hard to feel that,” Naft says. “That’s what I want to provide, the long term permanent results for his neighborhood and frankly anyone who needs it.”
He says the camping ban, which takes effect Saturday, will give Metro another tool to tackle the issue. It will punish people with a citation or arrest if they don’t move or accept an available bed at a shelter.
The unhoused must be warned to move their encampment before a citation or arrest occurs. A person must be offered an available bed; a person cannot be arrested if there is no bed available, or if the person is having a mental health emergency.
“I can assure the public there is more being done to tackle the issue of homelessness than ever in the history of Clark County. The problem continues to get greater but the solutions are there,” Naft says.
Help of Southern Nevada joined Clark County Public Works Crews during a clearing Thursday morning.
Director of Homeless Response Teams, Louis Lacey, says two people agreed to move to a shelter.
“We have to be persistent, and today that persistence paid off,” he says.
He says the camping ban will not affect their day-to-day operations.
“Regardless of the camping ban, we are going to continue to try to get folks to accept housing and exit homelessness,” Lacey says.
Neighbors say they’re hopeful it will help them feel safe again in their homes.
“I understand that they need a place to stay, I understand that they’re looking for their own home, but it can’t be in the wash, it just can’t,” an anonymous neighbor says.
Anyone with concerns about encampments in Clark County can report them through FixIt Clark County, or by contacting their commissioner directly.
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