Dev Davis has proposed to the Board of Supervisors the use of land in Willow Glen (corner of Willow and Lelong) as a sanctioned encampment for chronically homeless people. 

Concerns from the community include:

• NO formal criteria in place for admittance / the property is within a 3 minute walk to homes with children.
  • Who is assuring the people being housed have no criminal background?
  • Will criminal background checks be completed?
  • Will Megan's Law be taken into consideration?
• Has an environmental assessment been completed to identify if/how a sanctioned encampment could impact the creek and ultimately the bay?
  • The creek is already fighting litter and pollution from homeless living along it. Will the issue worsen with homeless hoping to gain admittance to Hope Village?
•  This is a flood zone. Valley District has been preparing and planning for widening of the creek to help with flood risks. 
  • Is there a chance the widening project could be delayed because of the encampment putting homes near the creek in danger?  
  • On February 13th the houses near the land is next to were evacuated at 5:00 a.m. with fear of flooding. 
    
    • What happens to the people that are living in the encampment if we are hit with another rain storm and flooding is at risk? 
    • What happens if  the area is flooded and the sewage is swept into the creek? 
• Crime -
  • The neighbors near the proposed location have had backyard fences burned due to homeless that camp along the creek. 
  • Last fall a house for sale on Dorothy was broken into by a homeless man. The police found him showering. 
    • Dev's response to me when I pointed this out was that Hope Village will have showers, so that won't happen. 
  • A Washington Post article from 2/2016 Dev sent to a neighbor as evidence home values wouldn't decrease ultimately hurts her agrument as it stated that a study of crime from homeless showed a 30% increase in crime within 500 feet of homeless shelters when the average housed 89 people. Hope Village plans to ultimately house 70 people. 
    • https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/dc-residents-fret-over-shelter-plan-citing-crime-and-property-values/2016/02/27/7be82f4c-d978-11e5-925f-1d10062cc82d_story.html?utm_term=.a1d0336b03e3