Daily closures of Foster Park take effect today

Foster Park will be closed to the public and homeless campers from 8 a.m. to noon daily, beginning today.

Clarkston’s new public works director said the closure was prompted by a need to water and maintain Foster Park, which is located near churches, residences and a private school.

“It became necessary for the city to close Foster Park daily to allow for maintenance of the grounds and facilities,” said Public Works Director Edward Coffland. “Due to accumulation of items at the park, the city has not been able to turn on or test the irrigation system or mow the grass. The closure will allow the city to provide daily watering and maintenance that is necessary to ensure that the park remains viable.”

How long the morning closures will remain in place is unknown at this point.

Clarkston officials designated the park near Diagonal and 10th streets as the one piece of public property within city limits that unhoused individuals are allowed to spend the night.

The ordinance allows overnight stays from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. Homeless people cannot be criminalized for having no place to sleep when a shelter is not available.

However, laws still apply to the people staying at Foster Park, officials said. Clarkston police have cited numerous individuals for various alleged violations. According to statistics from the Clarkston Police Department, law enforcement has responded to at least 246 complaints at Foster Park since Feb. 14. That’s about the time the homeless camp near Walmart was disbanded.

Police made 36 or more arrests during that time span. Most charges center around criminal trespassing, displays of deadly weapons, fighting, barking dogs and vagrancy.

Portable restrooms have returned to the site after being removed last month.

Asotin County Public Health Administrator Brady Woodbury said the district recently found another vendor willing to provide port-a-potties at Foster Park. The previous provider had to remove the toilets because of vandalism.

“We found another vendor to rent from,” Woodbury told the Tribune in a text. “We had them place two more portable toilets, and so far, things are going pretty well. No reasons to remove them have arisen, and the vendor is pumping twice a week.”

The homeless issue has been percolating in Clarkston for months. Unhoused people have been forced to move several times since last fall, and the topic often sparks heated discussions on social media and at meetings.

Foster Park’s neighboring residents and parents of children attending Holy Family Catholic School have aired numerous concerns about the park’s inhabitants.

At last week’s Clarkston City Council meeting, several people spoke about how the homeless population has affected their neighborhood. Children can’t play at the park because of alleged drug use and dangerous debris, they said. Others have implored that the campers are human and deserve compassion, especially with the lack of affordable housing in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley.

Officials have said there appears to be two groups staying at Foster Park on a regular basis. The first group is down on their luck and hoping to improve their living conditions, and the other group seems to be causing problems and winding up with multiple citations. Their cases are ongoing in municipal court.

Police handed out the notices of morning closures this week. The unhoused folks have said they are unsure where they will go when Foster Park is off limits each morning.

Lindsey Cannard, director of the Recovery Navigator Program, is a frequent visitor to Foster Park as part of her job to assist people struggling with mental health or substance disorders. Homelessness is a complex situation with no easy answers or quick fixes, she said.

Cannard said community input on possible places for the unhoused to stay would be appreciated.

“Committees are making progress toward finding long-term solutions,” Cannard said. “If community members have viable land options in mind, please reach out to the (Quality Behavioral Health) Housing Steering Committee.”

Cannard serves on the QBH housing steering committee with Danika Gwinn and Samantha Frederick. They can be reached at (509) 758-3341.

Sandaine can be reached at kerris@lmtribune.com. You can follow her X @newsfromkerri.