ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) – Tent City is back again. But this time, the homeless camp isn’t downtown; it’s in a very visible spot in a high-traffic area. Getting the group to move may be more of a challenge this time around. The lot isn’t private property or owned by the city, it belongs to the state.
Sometime over the weekend, the campers moved to the hill which was once the on-ramp to I-25 from Lomas. That is considered a right of way property owned by the state.
Department of Transportation Cabinet Secretary Tom Church said they will be working with state police to serve eviction notices soon because of sanitary and safety concerns. Campers said they chose this spot because they knew it would take the state longer to evict them and they’re still close to homeless services downtown.
This is the fourth spot for the dwellers. The first was downtown and the second and third were in the Barelas neighborhood. All three times, they were evicted by the city or property owners.
By moving near the freeway, they say they wanted to stay away from residential neighborhoods but this new camp site is right down the hill from the American Legion Post 13. They say it’s not the first time they’ve had an issue with homeless dwellers.
Site surveyors from the d-o-t were out here around four this afternoon looking over the property. Despite sanitary concerns for the group, a portable bathroom facility has been provided for the campers by Albuquerque Justice.
The city has dumped rocks over Tent City’s first location at First and Iron.
