Striking a balance between assisting those experiencing homelessness while also enforcing laws governing camping on public property has been a thorn in the side of city officials for years. Further complicating the issue: Public expectations rarely line up neatly.
While there’s often friction between Mayor Tim Keller’s administration and the City Council on any number of subjects, there appears to be a fair amount of common ground on one: Encampments aren’t safe or legal and shouldn’t be allowed.
City Councilor Renée Grout recently filed three measures intended to curb the effects of encampments, and in the process, she said, make public spaces safer and improve the quality of life for residents.
Her “public camping regulations” proposal would further define the prohibitions on public camping in unauthorized areas, like parks, streets and sidewalks.
“There’s nothing wrong with having boundaries,” Grout said Wednesday. “If somebody wants to camp out or live outside, that’s their business — but they have to do it in certain areas. It can’t just be anywhere they want.”
Grout said the issue has been on her mind “for a long time” and that the proposed ordinance is partly a response to constant calls and emails from constituents. She said City Attorney Lauren Keefe worked on the legislation, which was informed by lessons the city learned from previous encampment sweeps.
“We’re codifying it because it’s documented in several places, in the traffic code, in the [Integrated Development Ordinance], the criminal code, it’s in the open space [code] — it’s even mentioned in the parks ordinance,” she said. “It’s mentioned, but not really defined. This is getting it better defined.”
One of the city’s most outspoken advocates for those experiencing homelessness said the measure amounts to little more than an “attack on rights.”
“Life for some of us is hard enough — we don’t need the individuals we elected to represent all of us introducing ordinances designed to take tents away from people who literally have no alternative,” Anami Dass, chair of the city’s Human Rights Board, said.
Grout said she knows more needs to be done, but that the city has already done a lot so far.
“We spent $85.9 million from 2020 to 2024 on contracts with social service providers — that doesn’t even include federal funding,” she said. “We just budgeted $4 million to operate the Gibson Gateway Center and we’ve spent $100 million rehabbing it. In fiscal year 2024 we spent $13.5 million in housing vouchers. We’re also remodeling the Gateway West — the Westside shelter.”
Two related ordinances round out Grout’s package of bills.
One addresses safety issues at city parks and playgrounds and is intended to curb littering, vandalism, drug use, human waste and illegal camping.
Another seeks to establish a framework to address abandoned shopping carts, which Grout said can pose safety hazards and contribute to neighborhood blight. Shopping carts are often used by those experiencing homelessness to transport their personal belongings.
“We need to help our less fortunate people, but we can’t allow them to just run amok in our community,” Grout said, adding that families often tell her they feel unsafe in their neighborhood parks. “We all have to live by rules whether we like it or not.”
The three measures now go before the Finance & Government Operations Committee for consideration, either on Nov. 25 or Dec. 9.
“These ordinances are going to be up for final action around Christmas, and the Council will be debating Grout’s proposals to make life even worse for unhoused people,” Dass said. “I think it’s time we consider what it is we are becoming, and who we would rather be instead.”
Added Grout: “Homelessness is not a crime — but a lot of the behavior is. We need to get them into safe shelter. We need to get them into safe spaces, because they deserve better than just being on the street in my opinion.”
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