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Phoenix starts clearing people out of 'The Zone' homeless encampment

As of Tuesday night, the city said they had only moved nine people into shelters.

PHOENIX — The City of Phoenix began moving people out of the city's largest homeless encampment known as "The Zone" early Wednesday morning.

Hundreds of people experiencing homelessness have lived in the four-block encampment for years. The camp's population has increased greatly since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic due to massive job and housing losses.

Phoenix city officials told 12News Wednesday morning that they had moved 33 people off of the streets and into shelter options. The city has allegedly identified some outdoor spaces that could potentially house some experiencing homelessness, but nothing has been set in stone.

READ MORE: Phoenix is cleaning up 'The Zone.' So where will everyone go?

What the city is calling its "zone cleanup plan" began at 7 a.m. after Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Scott Blaney agreed with business owners and residents in March that the encampment was a "public nuisance" and ordered the city to begin clearing the streets.

The judge gave the city a July 10 deadline to show "material results."

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12News' Bianca Buono is live in the area:

7:30 a.m.

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