Court Upholds Order Requiring Phoenix To Clear Homeless Encampment and ‘BioHazard’ Known as ‘The Zone’

The ruling comes ahead of a November ballot measure that aims to refund property taxes to those affected by illegal activity.

Brandon Bell/Getty Images
A Phoenix homeless encampment, as seen on July 14, 2023, during a 15-day-long heatwave in which temperatures rose above 110 degrees. Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Phoenix business owners and residents who were exposed to ground “soaked with urine and human feces,” “frequent public nudity,” and “tin foil with burned residue of fentanyl pills all over the sidewalks,” have secured a second legal win in a years-long battle over a sprawling homeless encampment known as “the Zone.”

The Arizona Court of Appeals agreed Tuesday with a lower superior court’s order in September that forced the city of Phoenix to clean up the encampment and enforce its own public nuisance laws.

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