Petoskey council adopts ordinance banning camping in public places after safety concerns

The Petoskey City Council on Monday adopted an ordinance restricting camping in public places after extended debate about safety and enforcement in waterfront and park areas.

The ordinance, as amended, removes language limiting enforcement to “overnight” hours and instead prohibits camping in public places "with or without shelter," allowing public safety officers to require people to leave certain public spaces. The measure passed 3-1, with Councilmember Shields the lone dissenting vote.

The vote came after residents and council members described recurring encampments and behavior that they said reduced safety and access for other park users. Mayor Murphy said the change is meant to give officers a clearer legal tool to address situations where tents, conversion vans or individuals occupying shelters interfere with the public’s use of parks and the Bayfront.

Police Chief Carr told the council that crews already try to connect people they find in parks with local services but often face repeat placements in the same locations. "Sometimes they call and it's getting cold out and they need help and we would go down that list ourselves and sometimes we make the phone calls and we try and find placement and then we provide them resources," Carr said. He described Bear River as a location with limited visibility and frequent safety calls and said parks staff now refuse to empty trash there alone because of confrontations.

Councilmember Nachtrob said the ordinance is aimed at protecting public safety for other park users, citing recent reports of assaults and threatening behavior in the Bear River area. "I come down strongly that we gotta protect the rest of the people first from public safety," he said.

Councilmember Shields said he opposed adopting the ordinance now because he favored developing a broader, coordinated strategy with nonprofits, county agencies and service providers before enacting a citywide prohibition. Shields cited Traverse City’s multi-agency approach — including tracking individuals by name and coordinating shelter beds — as a model he prefers to emulate before criminalizing behavior. He said the ordinance is “part of the solution, but it is not the whole solution.”

During public comment, Ella Johnson, a Petoskey resident, urged the council to avoid a citywide ban that criminalizes poverty and to consider targeted restrictions limited to high-traffic tourist and park areas or a designated safe camping zone with services. "Enforcement without support just moves the issue out of sight, not out of existence," Johnson said.

Councilmembers who voted for the ordinance said it is meant to be enforced in a way that prioritizes referrals to services and humane handling but gives officers an enforceable standard when public safety is at risk. The council recorded the motion and final roll-call as Nachtrob: aye; DeMour: aye; Shields: no; Murphy: yes. The ordinance was adopted 3-1.

Councilmembers and staff agreed next steps should include signage, continued outreach by public safety to provide resource information and a council-led work session to pursue a multi-stakeholder approach to long-term solutions.

The ordinance is an amendment to Chapter 18 (Streets and Sidewalks and Other Public Places) of the City Code concerning camping in public places; staff said it was drafted in response to repeated complaints about camping and public-safety incidents in parks and along the Bayfront.