The rumble of heavy machinery on Pryor Street early Monday signaled the city of Atlanta’s return to clearing homeless encampments. It was the first major clearing since the city implemented a 45-day moratorium after Cornelius Taylor was fatally crushed by construction equipment during a January encampment sweep.
The clearing of the large encampment on Pryor Street under I-20 near the Downtown Connector began at 7:30 a.m. on May 5. Police blocked off the street for most of the day. Many tents that lined Pryor Street and the surrounding area where dozens of unhoused people lived were torn down by earth-moving equipment. Loaders with front-mounted buckets scooped up tents, trash, and debris and tossed them into dumpsters. Many people sat with suitcases, carts, and even sofas as the clean-up took place around them.
“They are not being very helpful,” said one man as Atlanta Police officers explained his stockpile of belongings, including suitcases and duffle bags, would have to be removed. The officers declined to comment and told the media they could not be on Pryor Street.
The mayor’s office said signage was posted at the encampment on April 23. Outreach teams, such as Partners for HOME, have been working with residents to connect them with shelter referrals, transition to permanent and supportive housing, transportation, and on-site services.
Since outreach began, the city said 52 people have been relocated—26 to shelters and 26 to housing. Several people moved into the recently opened Ralph David House on Moreland Avenue on Monday. A city spokesperson said seven people declined assistance.
The Pryor Street encampment sweep occurred days after the Atlanta City Council’s Community Development/Human Services heard a presentation on new safety protocols recommended by the 2025 Task Force on Homelessness Response.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said in a statement that the Pryor Street clearing followed new safety guidelines recommended by the task force, such as weeks of outreach.
“Living in these encampments is not safe for the people living there, the surrounding communities or the public at large. They pose serious health, life, and safety risks that we have a moral obligation to address,” Dickens said.
“Following the newly created recommendations from our task force, and after weeks of outreach, our neighbors will be relocated to safe and secure housing that will put them on the road to self-sufficiency,” he said.
The task force was created in February after Taylor, 46, was crushed by a city Public Works construction vehicle while inside his tent on Jan. 16 at the Old Wheat Street encampment across from Ebenezer Baptist Church.
Chatiqua Ellison, director of Special Projects for the mayor’s Housing Team, told the CD/HS Committee on April 29 that the task force was created to examine the policies and procedures for addressing homelessness in Atlanta and to look at the barriers and gaps in the overall ecosystem.
The task force is comprised of 36 organizations, including representatives from city departments, outreach teams, service providers, grassroots organizations, and clergy. Ellison’s presentation last week was a preliminary report that says the city’s current homelessness strategy “lacks holistic oversight and coordination.”
Current shelter and emergency temporary housing options are inadequate, she said, and there are insufficient resources throughout the ecosystem as a whole.
Recommendations for safety on the day an encampment is cleared is to have outreach representatives and police officers go to every structure to make sure they are empty. A sign-off sheet to check off that everybody has been moved from the site is also recommended, she said. There is also discussion with the city fire department to have fire recruits come in with thermal sensors to ensure nobody is in a tent, Ellison said.
Minimizing the use of heavy machinery during a clearing is also recommended. Smaller construction vehicles could be used to pick up materials and put them into piles to be picked up later by larger vehicles.
A final task force report is expected in June.
Taylor’s death sparked outrage among housing activists, including the Housing Justice League. At a Monday press conference at Old Wheat Street, activists denounced the city for restarting encampment sweeps. They are demanding that the city permanently stop clearing out camps that destroy what little property people have.
Instead, they said, the city should concentrate on housing first policies that provide immediate housing without barriers, such as having a job or being sober. Once a person is stabilized in housing, wraparound services for substance abuse or mental health issues can be offered.
Atlanta, like most cities across the country, is grappling with an affordable housing crisis that has resulted in a rise in people experiencing homelessness. In 2024, nearly 3,000 people were considered homeless, a seven percent increase from 2023.
The stigma of being unhoused is also a burden. In 2023, the Republican-led Georgia General Assembly passed a bill that mandates local governments enforce ordinances prohibiting unauthorized public camping and sleeping on sidewalks and other public spaces.
Dickens has made housing a priority for his administration. The city has committed $60 million to address homelessness, including rapid housing projects like The Melody in South Downtown.