Residents, businesses and service providers split over proposed 'Stay Out of Drug Areas' ordinance

Dozens of residents, business owners and social service providers testified Tuesday at the Kent City Council meeting about a proposed Stay Out of Drug Areas ordinance, often called SODA, with speakers sharply divided over whether it would improve downtown safety or make people in crisis harder to help.

Supporters of the ordinance, including property owners and small-business operators who spoke during the public-comment period, said visible drug use and related problems have worsened in recent months and are driving customers away. “I have seen more and more people just wandering around and sleeping in our alcoves…It isn't good for Kent,” said Pat Crockett, a property owner on First Avenue North and Meeker Street. Business owners described regular break-ins, theft, drug paraphernalia and overdoses outside storefronts and said those incidents harm employees, customers and revenues.

Opponents — including service providers, peer-support program staff and some people with lived experience — said SODA would be punitive and counterproductive. “SODA…