Carbondale residents ask council to lift camping ban and designate site as warming center closes

At the May 13 Carbondale City Council meeting, a resident experiencing homelessness urged the council to lift the city's ban on camping and designate a safe place to camp after the community's warming center prepares to close.

"I come to speak on behalf of all the homeless that reside within Carbondale," said Erica (Eric or Erica) Buecher, who identified themself as living without a fixed address. "I am here to ask for a lifting of the ban on camping within city limits, as well as a designated area for homeless people to camp." Buecher suggested a site across from the creek between East College and Grand Street.

Why it matters: speakers at the meeting said people experiencing homelessness in Carbondale face repeated displacement and harassment and that the pending closure of the warming center will increase the number of people living outdoors. The council heard a range of related requests from residents and nonprofit leaders, including faster rehabs or demolition of blighted housing and conversion of underused commercial space to affordable housing.

Multiple residents and community representatives used the public comment period to raise housing and safety concerns. Scott Davis, a long-time Carbondale resident, commended the city's housing official for plans to address dilapidated housing and encouraged the council to pursue grants to convert a largely vacant mall into affordable units. Doug Cherry, from Victory Dream Center, thanked the Department of Building and Neighborhood Services for assistance on a new community building project.

Speakers also connected homelessness to other public-safety and infrastructure topics. Don Monty asked staff negotiating a new contract with a mobility vendor to press for pedestrian and wheelchair protections after seeing scooters operating dangerously. "This is the opportunity to try to really push hard to solve some of the problems we had with the old contract," Monty said. Councilmember Maxwell later said she had "a chance to speak with the representative from VEO" and that sidewalk space and accessibility were "definitely on their minds and a priority." Councilmember Gilman said she would relay concerns to staff and the vendor representative.

Several speakers raised short-term needs tied to the warming center. "The warm center is closing on this seventeenth," resident Adam Ware said, urging the city to consider rehabbing that facility into affordable housing and to take near-term steps to improve lighting, traffic safety and potholes. Gilman directed residents to the city's SeeClickFix app for nonemergency infrastructure complaints, saying, "If you see a deficit in our city's infrastructure, anywhere within city limits, please use the SeeClickFix app to alert city staff, and someone will be dispatched to resolve those issues." Several speakers emphasized compassion and the need for coordinated solutions rather than enforcement alone.

No formal council action was taken on camping rules, shelter alternatives or the warming center during the meeting. Mayor Carolyn Harvey and council members said they would discuss public comments with city staff and follow up as appropriate.

Looking ahead: speakers asked the council to act quickly because the warming center closure is imminent. Residents urged pursuit of both short-term shelter options and longer-term affordable housing conversions and repairs.