Council delays vote on camping regulations ordinance to allow insurer review

The Sweet Home City Council opened discussion on Ordinance No. 2 (2025), which would adopt a formal camping regulations policy, but elected to table the ordinance to the next council meeting to allow further review by the city’s insurance services.

City Attorney Larson told the council the city has been operating under an informal practice requiring people who camp in the city to use a location behind the police department. Larson said state law requires a policy that “recognizes the social nature of the problem of homeless individuals camping on public property” and that the proposed ordinance was modeled on an Albany ordinance intended to satisfy that requirement.

Several councilors expressed concern about adopting the policy as an ordinance rather than a resolution, citing lawsuits in other cities (noted in the transcript as involving Grants Pass) and uncertainty over the term “objectively reasonable” in the state statute. One councilor urged the council to have the city’s insurance/advisory service (CIS/SIS) review the draft to reduce potential liability.

Council members agreed to table the ordinance for additional review; one councilor specifically proposed tabling it until the next meeting on March 28 to get clarification from SIS. The mayor accepted that direction and the council placed the item on the next agenda.

City Attorney Larson said ordinances give police clearer enforcement authority compared with nonbinding policies or resolutions but acknowledged reasonable minds can differ and that it is better to do the work correctly than quickly. Staff and councilors noted the city already directs excluded individuals to the police department site and that the draft ordinance largely reflects existing practice.

The council did not adopt Ordinance No. 2 (2025) at the meeting; it was tabled for further review.