Homeless encampment along Joe Rodota Trail in Santa Rosa cleared Friday morning

A half-mile stretch of the Joe Rodota Trail in southwest Santa Rosa, which had morphed into a homeless encampment for more than a month, was cleared of campers Friday morning.

The dismantling of the camp, which grew to as many as 89 tents and campsites, began Wednesday and continued until Friday morning, when Santa Rosa police officers and Sonoma County park rangers gave those still left a final deadline of around 10 a.m.

Throughout the morning, homeless campers packed their belongings in cardboard boxes, large plastic garbage bins, wheelbarrows and makeshift bicycle carts. They pushed, dragged and carried their belongings beyond the stretch of trail that had been completely fenced off since Wednesday.

Once outside the fenced portion, some sat on street curbs or under the shade of pine trees, contemplating their next move.

“They told us we couldn’t come back,” said Dyan Jones, 37. “They’re basically sweeping this thing and treating us like we’re not human beings.”

Jones said she wasn’t sure where she and her friends would go. With her dog, Twitch, resting in the shade, she said campers would probably convene a “summit” to decide where to camp next. She spoke at length about illegal camping rules and city and county zoning rules that she said inhibited her free movement.

“People forget that migration has been part of human nature, something we’ve been doing for years,” she said.

Even before the scheduled eviction along the trail began Wednesday, campers had begun abandoning the encampment. By Friday morning, about a dozen campers remained.

Homeless outreach workers with Catholic Charities of Santa Rosa, who for weeks have been trying to place campers in shelters, conducted an 11th-hour effort to get people connected to services.

Later Friday, former encampment residents could be seen pushing and pulling carts loaded with suitcases, bags and bedding along Sebastopol Road. Their paths often crossed with local residents, some coming out of the Dollar Tree store carrying graduation balloons for local schoolchildren.

Santa Rosa Police Sgt. Jonathan Wolf said some of the campers still on the trail Friday were slow to leave because they had more belongings. Campers were given the option of storing some of their belongings at a former hardware store site near the encampment.

One camper, who had accumulated numerous bicycle parts, frames and rims, spent the morning trying to organize and load his belongings before giving up.

“This is my whole life, you’re ruining my life,” he said as he rode off on a bicycle.

The Joe Rodota Trail encampment was a direct result of the April 19 eviction of the Roseland Village homeless encampment behind the Dollar Tree on Sebastopol Road. This week’s crackdown comes on the heels of recent violence on the trails, including two unrelated stabbings and an assault on a bicycle commuter, who was punched in the face as he tried to get through the area.

Since the closure of the Roseland Village encampment, 39 campers have been placed in a shelter or motel, said Jennielynn Holmes, Catholic Charities’ director of shelter and housing. Holmes said most went into shelters such as Samuel T. Jones Hall or The Rose.

Of the 39 placements, ?21 people were put into shelters this week, she said.

During the week, some former trail campers tried to set up their tents and tarps in a private vacant lot just east of the encampment. Wolf said frequent police patrols have visited the site to tell campers they are trespassing on private property.

No arrests were made for illegal camping during Friday’s final enforcement operation, Wolf said. One person was arrested for repeatedly trespassing on private property just north of the Joe Rodota Trail, he said.

David Robinson, park manager for Sonoma County Regional Parks, said contractors will be brought in to remove garbage, hazardous waste and debris from the encampment. On Friday, bicycle pieces, bedding and clothing, syringe needles, cooking utensils, clothes hangers, machine parts and even a washing machine drum were strewn along the trail.

Robinson said it would take a few days to get the trail clean and ready for public use no later than Wednesday.

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com.