Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Homelessness Panhandling topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Resident urges anti-camping, anti-panhandling ordinances; mayor urges measured approach
Summary
A resident urged the council to adopt anti-camping and anti-panhandling ordinances and to fund enforcement; the mayor said panhandling laws exist but enforcement is constrained by First Amendment and property-ownership limits, and noted regional and state-level coordination on mental-health services.
A Goose Creek resident urged the city to adopt ordinances banning public camping and aggressive panhandling and to staff enforcement and outreach; Mayor Gregory Habib acknowledged the concern but cautioned council about legal and practical limits on enforcement.
“Goose Creek is facing a homeless problem that needs to be addressed. Particularly camping, hand handling, and soliciting is making our community and streets feel unsafe and dirty, and we need action now,” said Josh Renfro, a resident who spoke during the public-comment period. He told council he had “seen tents near and between Highway 52 and Saint James, people approaching cars at intersections, and trash piling up,” and asked that the council draft anti-camping and anti-panhandling ordinances by the next meeting. Renfro suggested pairing enforcement with shelter referrals and adding officers or a task force to patrol hot spots, clean up sites and connect people to services.
Mayor Gregory Habib responded that the issues raised are shared across the region but that legal and jurisdictional limits constrain local action. “You do have to be a little careful about the panhandling issue because there are First Amendment rights and there are things like that,” Habib said. He added that many locations cited by Renfro — storefronts and private property — require property owners to request trespass enforcement, and that city enforcement is typically complaint driven. Habib said the city has laws addressing panhandling, but where enforcement can occur is limited and often dependent on private-property owners initiating action.
Habib described regional collaboration and state advocacy as part of the city’s approach. He said Goose Creek has added a social worker to the police force and that mayors from neighboring jurisdictions are working on joint projects to address homelessness and mental-health service gaps. “Our state is not really good at serving those in need of mental health services,” he said, and he described ongoing efforts to press the state for expanded services while coordinating locally with other cities.
No ordinances or enforcement changes were proposed on the council floor during this meeting. The mayor encouraged residents to report incidents to the police and, when private property is involved, to ask property owners to contact police to request removal or trespass enforcement.
Why it matters Calls for anti-camping and anti-panhandling laws touch on public-safety, public-health and civil-rights issues. The resident asked the council both for stronger enforcement and for social-service connections; the mayor signaled some willingness to pursue regional coordination and legislative advocacy while warning of constitutional limits and the need to respect property-owner rights.
Next steps No ordinance was introduced at this meeting. The council did not vote on policy changes; staff and the mayor indicated continued regional coordination and internal steps (including the social-worker position) to address the issues raised.
