Port Orchard city officials removed just over five tons of trash from a growing homeless encampment on Bethel Avenue Feb. 13.

To the naked eye, not much has changed as that same camp remains occupied with litter and at least two people as of Feb. 14 despite an official notice to vacate two weeks earlier. The camp has been active and growing in size since late November, most of it hidden by trees. It’s largely recognizable by a big, blue tent just a few feet away from the road, and its extremely close proximity to The Mattress Store and Gravity Coffee, among other businesses.

Cassandra Martin, who works at Gravity Coffee, said the camp has created more concern for safety, emphasizing how unsettling it can be to leave work at night. “There’s definitely a lot more homeless people walking up and down the street,” she said. “We’ve also had issues with them coming up to our walk-up door on the other side there.”

One man had caused trouble in the past, enough so that when police were called he was arrested. “We ignored him because we told him we aren’t going to serve him anymore, and he was just banging on the glass, banging on the windows, walking around and making us feel unsafe,” Martin said.

Angela Garcia, who supervises the community development code enforcement officer, said city officials began working with the Kitsap Homeless Encampment Action and Response Team in early December to offer alternatives and help to the homeless. “When complaints of encampments are received, the first step is to contact available resources that can provide assistance to people,” she said.

While a majority of the homeless reportedly took the help, a Notice to Vacate and Intent to Remove Property was served by the city Jan. 30 and acted upon Feb. 13. It was then that officials removed roughly 5.15 tons of “trash, human waste in assorted containers, cardboard and abandoned tents/tarps.”

Two of the four tarps in the encampment were abandoned, warranting their removal. “These two abandoned tents/tarps were removed as they contained buckets/ bags of human waste and trash/debris. The other two tents were occupied upon arrival. Those two tents remain in place, and they were left undisturbed,” Garcia said. A large barricade of concrete blocks surround the remaining tents and trash.

It was reported that one person was arrested for threatening city officials with an undisclosed weapon. That person’s tent and items were left at the encampment.

One occupant who identified herself as Stephanie H. was thankful for not being completely displaced after she said she arrived there just the night before. “I just finished sixty days of treatment at Olalla for alcohol, and then I was supposed to go into an Oxford House, and I just started drinking again,” she said.

Stephanie talked about how she ended up finding the encampment. She said in her homelessness, it was less about caring where you slept at night and more about getting through one day at a time. “I think there are people who understand, and then there are people who are just really mean,” she said.

Martin said she understands that the people in the camp are struggling, but she also understands the safety concerns with the camp still occupied. “I hope that they’re able to figure things out, but I don’t feel super safe with them right across the street,” she said.