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Committee reopens sit-and-lie amendment; councilmembers debate enforceability and overlap with pedestrian-interference law
Summary
Councilmember Bingle presented an amended sit-and-lie ordinance that would remove shelter-bed and housing-status references and expand the prohibition citywide. Members debated enforcement overlap with pedestrian-interference provisions and noted ongoing legal challenges to related ordinances.
Councilmember Bingle introduced a proposed amendment to the city’s sit-and-lie ordinance that would expand the prohibition citywide, remove time-of-day provisions and eliminate references to housing status and shelter-bed availability.
Bingle told the Public Safety and Community Health Committee the change is intended to make the law generally applicable and to remove implementation barriers officers have cited. “This removes a lot of those restrictions,” Bingle said, framing the amendment as an effort to give officers an additional enforcement tool when necessary.
Nut graf: The proposal generated debate about enforceability, overlap with existing pedestrian-interference and camping rules, and possible legal exposure. Committee members asked whether the city already effectively enforces similar behavior under pedestrian-interference language and whether expanding sit-and-lie citywide would create unfunded enforcement obligations.
Several councilmembers noted that Spokane Police Department uses pedestrian-interference enforcement primarily downtown and that sit-and-lie has not been widely used because of statutory restrictions tied to shelter availability. One committee member cited previous roundtable feedback that a majority of participants supported a citywide sit-and-lie rule, while others warned of active litigation challenging related camping ordinances and said legal outcomes remain uncertain.
Members also discussed whether enforcement would incur additional costs if the city attempted to apply sit-and-lie everywhere at every instance, and whether the change would meaningfully alter current enforcement practice. The committee received the briefing and exchanged views; no vote was recorded during the meeting.
Ending: Staff and members signaled interest in further briefings with SPD and legal staff to clarify enforceability, likely costs and overlap with state and federal case law before advancing the ordinance.
