A photo of some of the trash on the property. Photo courtesy of John Shelter.


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PREVIOUSLY

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The last unhoused people occupying a chunk of private property left a years-old encampment today in Arcata after the police asked them to leave — the end of a months-long effort from the city and private contractor John Shelter, operator of New Directions.

Located at the west end of O Street, the property is sometimes called “The 40.” Around 50 people lived on 20 acres of land split up among four parcels as recently as August. Arcata Police Department Lieutenant Luke Scown said that nine people were still camping there this morning. No one was arrested and Scown said everyone left without incident. 

A map of the property.

The owner of the property had wanted them gone for months, and Scown said they’d “reached the point” of asking the remaining campers to clear out. 

According to Shelter, most of them moved to a different chunk of private property near Samoa Boulevard; Scown said a couple had left with representatives from Arcata House Partnership.

Shelter said that he’d worked to make sure everyone there knew that they’d be forced to move soon and told the few people still there last week that the time was approaching. APD had done the same.

Shelter has cleaned up over 150,000 pounds of garbage from the property since May, and said in an interview with the Outpost that there was probably another 15,000 pounds left in the now-empty sites. 

Both Shelter and Scown emphasized that they’d attempted to enforce the law and do their jobs as empathetically as they could. 

“It’s really important to remember that this is private property and this was a five-month-long process here during which a lot of services were offered and a lot of outreach done,” Scown said. 

Aerial footage of the property from this morning.