Arizona Judge Orders Removal of Phoenix’s Homeless ‘Zone’

An aerial view of people gathered near a homeless encampment in the afternoon heat in Phoenix, Ariz. on July 21, 2022. Mario Tama/Getty Images

An Arizona judge has ordered city officials to remove a community of homeless people living on public property in Phoenix’s largest homeless encampment on March 27.

The encampment is informally referred to as “the Zone.”

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Scott Blaney called the zone a “public nuisance.”

“The City controls the rights of way in the Zone, including the streets, alleys, avenues, and sidewalks,” Blaney stated in the court order (pdf).

A row of tents on 12th Street in Phoenix in an area known as "the Zone" on Sept. 18. Allan Stein/The Epoch Times