City to Keep Sunderland RV Park Open for an Extra Three Months

The city of Portland says it will keep the Sunderland RV Safe Park open through June, extending its life by three months.

The extension is a victory for former Multhomah County Commissioner Sharon Meieran, who emailed County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson, Portland Mayor Keith Wilson, and all 12 new city councilors last month, urging them to extend the life of the Sunderland RV Safe Park because it has been successful in providing a haven for houseless people living in RVs.

Today, Wilson said he agreed.

“I support extending the Sunderland RV Safe park site lease and invite proposals to safely and cost-effectively continue to operate the existing facility,“ Wilson said in a statement. ”RVs are uniquely vulnerable to fires, leaks, mold, carbon monoxide, and other hazards, which makes it all the more important that occupied RVs are in RV parks and not on the street.”

Sunderland, located just west of the runways at Portland International Airport, was slated to close March 31, so that the Portland Bureau of Transportation could return its leaf-mulching and gravel operations from property owned by the Port of Portland.

Residents of Sunderland were offered the opportunity to move to a new RV safe park 5 miles away on North Portland Road that opened in November. But PBOT and the port were able to extend their lease, taking pressure off the Sunderland site.

Meieran, a frequent critic of homelessness strategies pursued by the city and county, pressed the city to keep both sites open because there are more than enough RVs-turned-shelters to fill them.

“This is an uncommonly sensical decision from the new City Council,“ Meieran said in an email today. ”It starts with reconsideration of a terrible idea, moves through humility, and ends with effective action. I feel vaguely optimistic."

City Councilor Dan Ryan, who questioned the wisdom of closing Sunderland at a council meeting last month, also endorsed the plan.

“This will continue the important work of providing services that are restoring lives and dramatically improving the livability of surrounding neighborhoods,” Ryan said in a statement.