Tent city set up near previous homeless camps in west Colorado Springs

Less than a week after the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office sent crews to clear out three homeless camps in west Colorado Springs, a tent city continued to grow just a few blocks away.

It’s unclear how long the tent city has been in existence behind the Walgreens drug store near 32nd Street and Colorado Avenue.

There are at least a dozen tents on the south bank of Fountain Creek there, parallel to the Midland Trail and U.S. 24.

The illegal campers apparently gained entry to the property by cutting through or tearing down parts of a fence separating the trail from the creek.

Some of the tents are surrounded by trash, clothing and other debris.

A viewer sent an email to KRDO NewsChannel 13 complaining about the tent city.

“What’s the answer to all of this?” the viewer asked. “We sure are the Olympic City.”

Bryan Livingston, a homeless man, said that he knows several of the campers and that some moved in after the nearby camps were closed last week.

“Leaving them alone for a while is probably a good thing,” he said. “It’s so cold right now, there’s nothing they can do, anyway. Their first priority is trying to stay warm.”

As Livingston spoke, a homeless man walked by with propane bottles to provide heat; another homeless man carried several large tree limbs to use for firewood; and a thin column of smoke rose from a fire burning at a campsite occupied by two men.

A member of the Colorado Springs Police Department’s Homeless Outreach Team said the tent city is outside police jurisdiction, and is in the unincorporated “no man’s land” area between Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs.

However, Jacqueline Kirby, a spokeswoman with the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, said police, deputies and private property owners share responsibility for the area.

“Law enforcement don’t have the resources to keep moving camps because the campers just eventually come back,” she said. “We need a community solution.”

Kirby said the county will take action if someone files a complaint of loitering, littering or trespassing, or if there are numerous complaints about the tent city.

Because it’s along a creek behind a shopping center, the tent city could be less visible than the camps that were closed last week, and may have drawn fewer complaints.

Linda Schlarb, co-owner of a nearby propane business, was the only merchant willing to speak publicly about the situation with homeless camps.

“We really don’t want homeless people panhandling in our lots,” she said. “We’re always picking up clothing and other stuff they leave behind. We’re seeing younger, more aggressive people causing more problems than we used to have.”

Authorities apparently will allow the campers to remain for now, given the arrival of colder weather and the lack of shelter options for the homeless.

Livingston said he understands homelessness more since he became homeless two months ago.

“I’m not an alcoholic or on drugs as everyone assumes the homeless are,” he said. “I had my truck stolen in Fort Collins and I lost a job. My mother is here but I wouldn’t want to live with her. So I’m trying to make it on my own. I camp alone. I don’t go to the camps. Too much trouble there.”

Paul Heimbuch, one of the campers evicted from under two bridges last week, said he would give the tent city a try.

“I found another place to camp but have already been kicked out of it,” he said. “My buddy who was under the bridge with me, I haven’t seen him. I don’t know what happened to him.”