ALAMOSA— Council chambers in Alamosa’s city hall were packed to capacity Wednesday night with about 150 members of the public who had gathered to give input to the city council on the future of a campsite known as St. Benedict.
Built by the city of Alamosa in 2020, St. Benedict was created as a place where people who are unhoused and unsheltered can legally pitch their tent and live. The city’s decision was motivated, in large part, as a defense against being sued for not providing an alternative to sleeping on the streets. However, a June 2024 ruling by the Supreme Court nullified that legal concern and, in so doing, made the future of St. Benedict uncertain.
St. Benedict has been a point of contention since the day it came into existence, with some in the community voicing opposition, not just to the campsite but to what is perceived as a growing population of people in Alamosa who are homeless. This opposition frequently includes concerns about personal safety, rising incidents of crime and, given the camp’s proximity to the Recreation Center and ball fields, the possibility of children being put at risk.
In response, others have called attention to homelessness impacting almost every town of any size in every state in the nation. Arguments are also made about the importance of remembering people who are homeless are, nonetheless, human beings deserving of compassion and support, and St. Benedict is one way to support those who are the most vulnerable as they have no shelter available to them.
Wednesday night’s audience included people from both sides of the issue. In a testament to a community that genuinely appears to be looking for solutions, the tone of the meeting was cordial and respectful even when differences in opinion were obvious.
The meeting began with City Manager Heather Sanchez presenting background information, including the cost of construction and operation.
Sanchez cited an increase in nuisance and criminal behavior impacting property and homeowners living in the adjacent neighborhood. Inside St. Benedict, there are abandoned campsites and trash, continual manipulation and abuse of the electrical system, continual damage to fencing that encloses the camp, damage to port-a-johns, and notable staff time required to address the issues.
At the same time, St. Benedict provides a central location where service providers can engage with the residents, engagement that is more frequent as community partners are now on site more than has happened in the past. Sanchez also said there is the belief that the camp’s existence has resulted in a decrease in camping and loitering in other areas of the city, but she could not back up those beliefs with data.
In terms of emergency services provided by the city, Fire Chief Bill Stone stated that, from February 2022 to July 2024, the Alamosa Fire Department responded to 22 calls at St. Benedict, 17 of which were calls to put out a fire.
Alamosa Police Chief Dingfelder listed figures for the Alamosa Police Department since St. Benedict opened four years ago, totaling 830 calls for service. Of those 830, 52 were for assaults; 12 were for violent acts, sexual assaults and domestic violence, and four were for unattended deaths. In the last two years, 12 people have been trespassed from the camp.
Dingfelder also described a system of hierarchy where some residents are openly victimizing other residents who are more vulnerable, resulting in many of the campsite residents being afraid. He also described significant environmental concerns related to rotting food, human waste and other (what might be described as) biohazardous situations."
When asked what the Alamosa Police Department thinks should be done, Chief Dingfelder was unequivocal in his response.
“We think it should be shut down,” he said. “The Alamosa Police Department is at the forefront of this. Come spend a day with us. Homelessness is not a crime. It’s not. But St. Benedict is a hotbed of violations. The majority of people living there fail to follow the rules and they’re always going to do that. Even if you enforce the rules that exist now, very few people will be there in a year. We think it should be shut down.”
Although it was not worded as such, Wednesday night’s meeting was essentially held to determine if St. Benedict should continue to exist or if it should be disbanded with all services discontinued and all campsites removed.
More than fifty people addressed council directly with almost every person using the entirety of the three minutes they were allowed to speak in either stating their support for keeping the camp open or their reasons to advocate for shutting it down.
There was a group of people who live at St. Benedict present in the crowd, several of whom expressed their wish for the camp to continue to exist.
Despite being an evocative topic that has had people clearly taking one side or the other in the past, the nature of many of the comments reflected just how complex the situation is with all decisions resulting in less than desirable consequences.
Should the camp shut down, residents will be forced to live someplace else, which increases the likelihood of negative interactions with business owners and property owners and the need for more police officers in enforcing the no-camping ordinances.
Should the camp stay open, something must be done to ensure the safety of people living there and enforcement of what rules exist. That, too, will require the dedication of resources that are currently allocated elsewhere.
Ultimately, there was significantly more support to keep the camp open than there was to close it down but what keeping it open might look like in the future remains unknown.
On Thursday, Sanchez sent this statement to the Valley Courier. “Homelessness has impacted Alamosa for decades, and as the national crisis has grown, so has it in Alamosa. The complexities of homelessness create challenges for communities to balance addressing the issue with avoiding enabling certain behaviors. Without national solutions for housing, mental health, and substance use treatment, communities will continue to struggle with homelessness with very little resources.
“Meanwhile, the issue remains one of the most divisive and controversial topics to navigate. I was greatly impressed with the public input that City Council received as part of this process. From the many emails sent in advance to the public comment provided during the meeting, the diversity of opinions our community has on this topic was thankfully brought forward.
“I was not surprised that City Council struggled with providing direction since in reality, there are consequences to any action taken. If City Council elects to keep St. Benedict going forward, then as we increase the rules and enforcement, we will obviously be watching closely the impacts on both the residents of St. Benedict and the community in order to see if further changes are needed. It was clear that better solutions to address homelessness must remain a priority for community partners to discuss.”
