LANCASTER, Pa. — Binns Park in Lancaster was relatively empty Wednesday morning, but that hasn’t always been the case.
“It is an area where our homeless individuals tend to hang out," said Anne Williams, director of communications for the Lancaster City Alliance.
The park is owned by the city.
For months, the green space adjacent to the county government office, and the sidewalks underneath the building’s overhang, which are county property, have been common spots for homeless people to congregate and sleep.
But the problem has seemingly subsided.
On March 28, a letter was sent to county employees, alerting them to efforts to address “problematic congregants” and detailing a noticeable decrease in those camping, if not living, on the property.
The county administrator chalks that up to “a combination of consistent and appropriate enforcement of the law” as well as offers of outreach services which have been taken up on.
Meanwhile, homeless individuals are still being seen in other parts of the city.
Lancaster City Alliance helps patrol and clean up Binns Park.
It also has an outreach specialist that works with homeless individuals.
“She has played a big role in encouraging many individuals to enter rehab or finding them shelter service," said Williams.
She says it’s all about finding a balance between caring for both those experiencing homelessness and others living and working in the city.
“We need to be respectful of their goals for their business and so striking that balance of clean and safe through our ambassadors and empathy with our outreach specialist," continued Williams.
Now the city is just weeks away from starting a major “refresh” of the green space.
“We’re going to undertake pretty much a healthy restoration of the park," explained Ryan Hunter, manager of parks and public property for the City of Lancaster's Department of Public Works.
Once renovations begin on May 15, most of Binns Park will be fenced off from public access.
“[We're] working with our partners at the county, the parking authority, the fire marshal, building codes to see how best we can keep the area safe and accessible, those portions that will remain accessible, while also preventing any sort of congregation or interruption," explained Hunter.
The city acknowledges the issues at Binns Park and hopes this project helps to deter them from happening in the future.
“We want to make sure this kind of matches the newness and majesty that we just finished across the street at Ewell Plaza and restore this to the jewel it was when it was first installed," added Hunter.
The city expects construction to wrap up in September.
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