'Like a third world country': Phoenix homeless encampment cleared but troubles persist, business owner says

Drugs, theft and vandalism still plague the area where Phoenix's largest homeless encampment once sat, even though the tent city was cleared six months ago, according to a nearby business owner.

"I don't want to get into too much detail, but urinating in public, lewd behavior. You'd be shocked at what we've seen here," Steve Trussell told Fox News Digital.

Trussell is executive director of the Arizona Rock Products Association and the Arizona Mining Association, which advocates for the rock products and mining industries in the state. His businesses' headquarters are in downtown Phoenix, just a block away from a dismantled multi-block tent city known as "The Zone."

Trussell said Phoenix had already been dealing with a homeless crisis for a long time, but things "really ramped up" when people were allowed to set up encampments downtown a few years ago.

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As many as 1,000 people were living in the tent city that was plagued by rampant crime, drug use and even death, according to local reports.

It was "just tough to stomach when you're seeing it firsthand," Trussell, who's worked in Phoenix for over 20 years said. "I was thinking to myself, it looks like a Third World country. And I've been in Third World countries on mission trips, and I just couldn't believe what I was seeing here."

The homeless count in Maricopa County hit over 9,600 in 2023 — an increase of more than 3,000 since 2018, according to government data.

Trussell said The Zone's proximity to his building put his staff and visitors at risk for years. Hostile people from the camp would threaten his staff, leave trash and graffiti and wander through the building looking for things to steal.

Fires in the back alley forced his staff to evacuate the building several times, Trussell said. He's had uncomfortable confrontations with people urinating in front of his building or fighting in the alley while he's trying to conduct meetings. He once caught a man breaking into his car and asked people sleeping on his roof to leave.

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The situation thrust Phoenix into the national spotlight and put pressure on city leaders to address the crisis. Last year, a Maricopa County judge declared The Zone a public nuisance and ordered Phoenix to clear the encampment by Nov. 4 after property owners and business owners sued the city. 

Trussell said the situation has improved since then, but his businesses still deal with lingering problems caused by the homeless population in the area.

Instead of daily disturbances, he said he now deals with these incidents more like once or twice a week.

"It's still pretty bad because we still have a lot of incidents in terms of folks walking in or people that are on drugs," he said.

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Since The Zone was cleared, crime has dropped nearly 50% from Nov. 1, 2023, through Jan. 15, 2024, compared to the same time period the year prior, FOX10 reported, citing police data.

However, Trussell still starts each morning picking up trash around his building. People are more likely to live out of their vehicles now and block traffic and take up parking spaces, he said.

Besides safety and hygiene issues, Trussell has also faced property damage costs. He's fixed broken security mirrors, painted over graffiti and spent time picking up trash and drug paraphernalia in the alleyway. 

Trussell emphasized that there are a variety of factors contributing to homelessness in the area, and he's sympathetic towards people who are struggling. His business actively works with local charities, like the Phoenix Rescue Mission, that are trying to help people in the community get back on their feet. 

However, he hopes a new proposal on the Arizona ballot in November could help provide businesses some relief from the costs they've had to bear from the ongoing crisis. The measure would compensate businesses, residents and property owners who've had to pay for property damage homeless people caused because of local governments' lax enforcement of laws.

"I think that's going to go a long way to sending a message that enough's enough," Trussell said. "While I understand the plight that these folks are facing, it doesn't give them license to pull all the trash out of the trash cans, light fires in the alley on people's property."

"If this is creating some more accountability, then that's fantastic," he added. "That's exactly what we'd like to see."

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In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for the Goldwater Institute, which helped draft the ballot measure, explained the reasoning behind it.

"For years, local governments across Arizona have refused to address their rampant homelessness crises by enforcing the law," the spokesperson said. "The resulting lawlessness has forced countless businesses and homeowners to watch their lives and livelihoods be destroyed as violent crime, public drug use, and vandalism run rampant."

"Arizonans no longer trust that their tax dollars are being used by local governments to protect their rights and provide the public health and safety services they are owed," the spokesperson continued. "This reform helps ensure Arizona property owners receive just compensation from a government that has failed to fulfill its duty."