photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

A camp is pictured Monday, Dec. 9, 2024, in eastern Lawrence on the property of BNSF Railroad, who has warned campers to leave.

Updated at 4:15 p.m. Monday, Dec. 9

After the BNSF Railroad gave notice late last week for campers to vacate its eastern Lawrence property by Sunday — a move strongly criticized by the city — several people remained Monday morning in a wooded landscape dotted with tents and debris.

The homeless camp just east of Eighth and Delaware streets has grown after the City of Lawrence closed a sprawling camp on city property next to the Amtrak station in East Lawrence.

At the time of the Amtrak closure in October, several individuals indicated to the Journal-World that they, with the city’s help, were taking their belongings east to the railroad property, which they referred to as “The Hole.” Others were moving to privately owned property abutting nearby Hobbs Park.

According to Cori Wallace, a spokesperson for the city, 28 people were at the railroad location Friday, the day after the railroad posted notice that campers had three days to vacate by the Sunday deadline.

Though notice went up on Thursday, the railroad had told the city in mid-November that it intended to close the camp, Wallace said.

The city asked the railroad to reconsider and to let people stay until the warmer spring months, arguing that such a reprieve was consistent with “best practices” and a “humane solution,” but the railroad declined.

“The Homeless Solutions department has asked in multiple formats for them to collaborate with the City to ensure we can enter those folks into alternative sheltering and services in the Spring,” Wallace told the Journal-World in an email.

When asked why the city would ask a private entity to host a homeless camp when the city has closed two camps on city property, Wallace said that the city objected to that characterization and she differentiated its planned closing of its camps with ample notice from the short notice given by the railroad.

“We disagree with the characterization of asking a private entity to ‘host’ anyone,” she said in the email. “Our focus is on [communicating] how effective service provision works. We know that there are best practices to get folks into longer-term sheltering/housing and services that will help them emerge from the cycles of homelessness. We entered into a conversation with BNSF with the understanding that we could assist them in a more humane approach to this work.”

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

People ride their bikes along the railroad tracks just east of Eighth and Delaware streets on BNSF Railroad property.

BNSF, which has its own railway police, did not respond immediately to Journal-World questions about the matter, but has previously mentioned concerns about safety near railway tracks and moving trains, especially after a community activist/journalist was killed by a train while visiting campers in the vicinity of Burcham Park. The railroad has a large No Trespassing sign posted on Eighth Street just east of the tracks that dissect the property.

After this story was posted, BNSF said via email that it was informed of the camp’s existence “a few weeks ago.”

“Due to the safety risk it poses for the unhoused population as well as our workers, we have asked those individuals to vacate,” said BNSF spokesman Kendall Sloan. “We are actively working with community providers, including the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center and the city of Lawrence’s Homeless Solutions Division to assist those displaced individuals. We encourage the public to report such camps on our property for the safety of everyone involved.”

Wallace said the distinction between a camp sweep with 72 hours notice and a 90-day posting with supportive on-site coordination with multiple service providers and case management, which was the situation when the city closed the longtime Camp New Beginnings in North Lawrence and the Amtrak camp in East Lawrence, was “vast.”

Wallace stressed that the city would not assist in any sweep of the railroad camp but would “absolutely assist folks in entering shelter and connecting with services.”

The Lawrence Community Shelter on Monday indicated that it was not at its capacity of 140. A case manager told the Journal-World that 122 people had stayed at the shelter Sunday night. But as recently as last Wednesday, that number was at 134. When the shelter reaches capacity, the Extreme Weather Emergency Shelter Plan comes into play with local churches being called upon to provide additional shelter if needed.

In addition to the main shelter on East 25th Street, as of Monday, 47 people were staying at The Village, a collection of 50 Pallet shelters run by the Lawrence Community Shelter on North Michigan Street, but a representative from the shelter said that new people were moving in Monday, bringing that location to capacity.

When asked about the city’s approach to people who simply do not want to accept shelter, Wallace said: “The Homeless Outreach Team will continue to connect with people who still shelter outside to ensure they have a strong pathway into shelter or to access services.”

In November, a private property owner cleared the encampment on the eastern edge of Hobbs Park at 11th and Delaware streets, as the Journal-World reported. That camp had also reportedly housed some people who had moved from the Amtrak camp.

When the city shut down the Amtrak camp in October it said it had no intention, with winter setting in, to clear other camps on publicly owned land. With privately owned land, however, that decision does not belong to the city, which has been sued over its now-closed Camp New Beginnings by business owners who accused the city of creating a vagrancy crisis.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

BNSF trains, like this one pictured on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024, pass through the area several times a day.