Public safety committee approves drafting of encampment ordinance after community safety concerns

The Homewood Public Safety Committee on Sept. 22 voted to send to council a draft ordinance that would prohibit camping and erecting temporary shelters on public property and set hours to limit overnight sleeping and vehicle habitation in parks and other public places.

The committee’s move follows several weeks of public comment and extensive committee discussion in which residents described repeated encounters with people they said were sleeping in parks, near schools and along trails, and described episodes that made them fear for their children’s safety. The committee vote directs city attorneys and staff to draft a text for the council’s consideration on the coming Monday.

Police officials told the committee they regularly ask people who are camping on public property to move and have limited enforcement options when violations are not witnessed by officers. “We try to ask them to leave and go to a different area to sleep…we’re encountering the same people over and over again without a tool to be able to utilize to make them stop this behavior,” Public Safety staff and the police chief told the committee during the hearing. Officers said many incidents reported by residents occur while officers are en route or after the person has already left the scene, and that criminal charges for misdemeanors often require either an officer’s direct observation or a witness to swear a complaint in front of the municipal magistrate.

Committee members and staff outlined the ordinance’s intended shape in general terms at the meeting: it would bar tents and similar shelters on public property at any hour and would also prohibit sleeping in parks and vehicles during a defined overnight window (to be nailed down in drafting and to be coordinated with the Parks Board). Officials emphasized the committee expects the ordinance to be narrowly targeted to survive legal scrutiny and to avoid sweeping restrictions on constitutionally protected conduct.

Residents urged a broad approach that would capture people sleeping on benches or in vehicles as well as tents, and pushed for stronger enforcement near schools, businesses and the library. Police said existing criminal statutes — indecent exposure, disorderly conduct, criminal trespass and certain loitering statutes — already cover many harmful behaviors, but explained enforcement often depends on witness statements, magistrate actions or officers seeing the misconduct. The committee and police leaders also discussed non‑legislative steps: boosting patrols in affected neighborhoods and along trails; improving the city’s 9‑1‑1/non‑emergency dispatch guidance for callers; and coordinating with social‑service partners to connect people with shelters and treatment when they agree to assistance.

Committee members asked staff to return with a draft ordinance tailored to the city’s legal constraints and to propose operational measures — staffing, signage, and public guidance — that can be implemented quickly. The committee voted in favor of drafting and referring the ordinance for council consideration. The city attorney is expected to prepare language and the item will appear on the council agenda for a final vote.

Residents who spoke at the meeting described repeated incidents in multiple neighborhoods and asked the city to make a higher‑visibility commitment. Committee members said they had heard the public and pledged to pursue legal, operational and partner‑based solutions. Police reiterated that the public’s reports and willingness to provide witness statements to the magistrate are critical steps in securing enforcement when an incident is not directly observed by officers.

The committee’s action will move to the full council; staff said drafts and supplemental materials will be available before the council meeting so elected members and the public can review proposed language and implementation steps.