San Diego County has taken another step toward a more sweeping ban against homeless encampments after the nation’s top court made it easier for local governments to move tents off public land.
In a unanimous and bipartisan vote Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors told staffers to update the county’s existing anti-camping law with provisions that crack down on fires. On days when the risk of wildfire is low, however, officials may only be able to clear encampments when shelter beds are available.
“I’m open to suggestions about what more we can do for the homeless — but this isn’t about the homeless,” Supervisor Joel Anderson, who introduced the proposal, said from the dais. “This is about whether you have a right to torch neighborhoods.”
The new ordinance is expected to be written in the next two months. The board will have to vote on the measure again for it to become law.
Several local fires have recently been tied to people living outside, and firefighters in the city of San Diego estimate that nearly a fifth of all blazes last year began near encampments. Yet cold nights can also be deadly and camp fires are sometimes the best way to ward off hypothermia. Many people spoke during Tuesday’s hearing to argue that the proposed ordinance would mainly criminalize poverty.
The county already regulates camping.
One ordinance bars residents from setting up tents in most parks or on sidewalks. Violators are guilty of a misdemeanor. Another section of the law says you can’t sleep in a vehicle parked on a public street for more than two hours.
But there aren’t explicit rules focusing on the region’s growing homeless population. Furthermore, enforcement had long been limited by a federal court ruling that said shelter beds had to be available for an encampment to be cleared. That meant tents were often left alone as shelters are regularly at capacity.
Then the U.S. Supreme Court stepped in. The justices decided last summer that local leaders were, in fact, allowed to tear down encampments regardless of bed availability, thereby giving San Diego County more freedom to push people off sidewalks.
Nonetheless, the two Democrats on the board, Terra Lawson-Remer and Monica Montgomery Steppe, said their for expanded enforcement partially hinged on having shelter to offer. Montgomery Steppe said she’d wait to make a final decision until the full ordinance was ready.
The supervisor previously voted against a camping ban in the city of San Diego while serving as a council member.
The proposed county ordinance would also create new limits on carrying fire-starting materials, such as lighters, and ban people from removing vegetation in riverbeds or canyons. Homeless people should generally get a three-day heads up before an encampment is removed. If clean-up crews seize any personal items, those belongings are to be stored for 90 days.
Officials said they already give 72-hour warnings and store some seized belongings.
The county continues to explore other ways to address homelessness, including a plan to build dozens of small sleeping cabins in Lemon Grove. A staffer said that shelter project should open sometime next year.
In recent years, several cities in the area have boosted penalties for sleeping outside. Escondido, for example, expanded its longstanding camping ban last summer to specifically address homeless encampments.
