Oakland delays Bay Bridge Toll Plaza homeless encampment clear-out until next week

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- A plan to clear out an illegal encampment along the Bay Bridge Toll Plaza won't happen Friday. Oakland City officials confirmed to ABC7 News they now have until Tuesday to move.

The encampment crackdown comes as county officials and advocates search for more long-term solutions to homelessness.

Michael Perillo has been living along the coast of the Bay Bridge Toll Plaza for almost a year. He was told he'd have to leave Friday morning by court order. Now, he has until Tuesday.

"It's good news. All of us need a couple of more days, honestly, to try and find a place to go," said Perillo, who grew up in Placer County.

Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that cities can ban people from sleeping and camping in public places.

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In an email to ABC7 News, the City of Oakland confirmed that the eight to 10 people who currently live there can stay until Tuesday. The emails says: "Outreach to the encampment residents at Toll Plaza Beach has been ongoing for several weeks to offer them shelter and services, and this work has continued throughout the planned encampment clearing operations."

The city faces daily fines from the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission if the people don't leave.

"It has been difficult in every city I have gone to. They don't have the resources that they need," Perillo said.

Perillo knows living at the Toll Plaza isn't a long-term solution. But he doesn't have the resources to go elsewhere, and the cities and counties don't have the resources either.

"Clearing out the encampment is one thing but providing housing for those people is completely different," said Pamela Glassoff, senior manager at 211 Alameda County, an organization that helps to provide services for those who are unhoused.

She said the county doesn't have shelter beds for those leaving the Toll Plaza Beach encampment.

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"It is just making it harder and harder to live. But that's not going to solve the issue of them trying to get back on their feet. Because everybody wants to be inside. But they can't find a way in," Glassoff said.

Alameda County Board of Supervisors President Nate Miley attended a homeless resource and job fair in Oakland Thursday afternoon. He's hoping a multi-billion dollar regional bond will pass in November to help fight homelessness. He recognizes the limits cities and counties face. He said the county is working on sanctioned encampments as a possible solution.

"Where we can ensure safety and services, if we have to clear an encampment, because it is causing a public health, a public safety and environmental type issue or concern," Miley said.

Perillo says his next challenge by Tuesday is not just to find a place to live, but also somewhere safe.

"There are no resources out here that are just close. The only thing out here, is that it is safer than the city," he said.