Torrential rain and 25 mph winds blew through Bangor’s largest homeless encampment Friday, the deadline for the camp to be cleared. Most of the snow coating the train tracks nearby had melted, leaving deep puddles interspersed among the numerous tents still standing.
Some people living in those tents between Washington Street and the Penobscot River were packing up to leave without a clear plan of where to head next.
Meanwhile, others were choosing to stay despite the deadline, although there was no sign of enforcement when Bangor Daily News reporters visited the camp Friday afternoon.
A letter from City Manager Carollynn Lear distributed Thursday told encampment residents that they are “strongly encouraged to move from this property.” CSX, the company that owns the railroad, plans to send a cleanup crew to the area Monday, according to the letter.
Some encampment residents will likely continue living on the streets after being displaced — a pattern that has repeated as the city has closed various encampments over the past few years amid an affordable housing shortage, the opioid epidemic and a rise in chronic homelessness statewide.
“After Friday, December 19 you will not be able to have any belongings or trespass on railroad property,” Lear’s letter stated. “Anyone walking through [Penobscot Plaza] to access the city property will be at risk for criminally trespassing.” The letter included information about warming centers and city services.
The city initially set Friday as the deadline for residents to leave the site in late November when more than 40 people were living there, citing safety concerns due to its proximity to the active railroad. Some of the site is railroad property, while other parts are owned by the city.
The railroad company, as well as the association of business owners at the nearby Penobscot Plaza shopping center, have expressed a commitment to the Friday deadline despite city councilors saying last week they wanted to postpone the closure.
The city has not indicated that it will direct anyone to leave the area of its own accord.
“I wish that the railroad had truly collaborated with us,” said City Councilor Michael Beck, who visited the encampment Friday morning to distribute water to residents.
Beck added that in hindsight, he wished the council had understood sooner that they didn’t have final say in when the camp would be cleared.
Charles Badger, 50, packed up his things and left the camp Friday morning.
“The city did give us almost a month to move, but at the same time, we have no place to go,” Badger said. He previously lived at the Valley Avenue encampment that the city cleared in 2023, he said, and has been homeless again for the last year, spending the last few months at the railroad encampment.
“I should be in the hospital still,” Badger said. “I was going through detox, and I had a heart attack when I was there, and I was in the hospital. But I had to sign myself out yesterday so I could get what little stuff I can take with me out.”
Badger plans to stay at the Sanctuary Warming Center at the Together Place Friday night, but doesn’t know where he’ll go after that, he said.
“Another encampment would be nice, but at this point I don’t see it happening until spring,” he said.
Some railroad encampment residents are set on staying until they’re forced out, according to Badger.
There were about 12 occupied tents at the beginning of this week. It’s unclear how many residents remain, and some tents are shared by multiple people.
Lear told the BDN that as of Thursday afternoon city staff were helping a small number of people move from the encampment. She did not have an updated count of how many people or tents remained as of Friday, she said.
The CSX Transportation Police Department and the Penobscot Plaza Association sent letters to the city on Monday and Wednesday, respectively, authorizing Bangor’s police department to remove trespassers from their property. Those letters were included in the packets distributed to encampment residents Thursday.
“The safety of our employees and the surrounding community is our top priority,” CSX spokesperson Austin Staton said Thursday. “We’re coordinating next steps with local authorities, including a scheduled cleanup, and continue to emphasize that the public should always stay clear of active railroad property.”
Staton declined to comment on follow-up questions about whether the company had specific plans to send its law enforcement officers to the area or file trespassing complaints.
People typically cross through the shopping center to get to the encampment, which is not easily accessible any other way because it is bounded by a large wall and the Penobscot River on either side. The Penobscot Plaza Association’s letter authorized police to remove people who were “loitering, camping, or otherwise remaining on the premises without actively conducting legitimate business” in the plaza.
Bangor Police Department spokesperson Jeremy Brock did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Shelter options are limited for people leaving the encampment. Fewer than half of the people living there as of Friday had housing vouchers, and it can be difficult to find landlords who are willing to rent to people with a history of homelessness. Hope House, Bangor’s only low-barrier homeless shelter, has been consistently full in recent months.
The letters distributed to residents said city staff would provide transportation to daytime and overnight warming centers like the one Badger plans to visit, although some encampment residents may not choose to go to a crowded indoor space with rules dictating visitors’ behavior.
“Between their mental illnesses and stuff, they just can’t deal with … the big groups of people like that,” Badger said.
Bangor’s city councilors have said they want to devise a long-term plan to address homelessness and create an advisory committee of experts, but they haven’t accomplished either thus far.
BDN photographer Linda Coan O’Kresik contributed to this report.