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Tempe enforces Town Lake trespassing ban amid its homeless outreach

By Ignacio Ventura
Published: Saturday, September 3, 2022 - 8:42am
Updated: Monday, September 5, 2022 - 9:08am

Tempe Town Lake
Sky Schaudt/KJZZ
Tempe Town Lake.

On Thursday, the city of Tempe enforced a trespassing ban on homeless individuals living outside near Tempe Town Lake. The move follows an outreach to provide unsheltered individuals with housing, services and resources. Paul Bentley is the deputy human services director for Tempe.

“The city of Tempe’s goal is to end homelessness by making it rare, brief and one-time, and this initiative, specifically within the river bottom, is in alignment with that initiative of care and compassion,” Bentley said.

Health and safety concerns, like flooding, largely led to the plan. Those who continue to violate and trespass in the area will be issued a citation.

By Friday morning, Bentley confirmed that some people had received services from the outreach team. 

“We are happy to report that over the last 48 hours, there have been six individuals that through our engagement have transitioned into a shelter, a healthy safe place to be,” he said. 

The city has opened a Resource Village that provides help, such as storage options for personal belongings.

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