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Bill would give municipalities explicit authority to regulate camping and storage on municipal property
Summary
House Bill 208 would let municipalities adopt ordinances limiting storage of personal property and sleeping or camping on municipal real estate; the bill's sponsor told the Senate Local Government Committee it is voluntary for cities and towns.
Representative Greg Overstreet told the Senate Local Government Committee that House Bill 208 would give municipalities an explicit statutory statement that they may regulate the storage of personal property and sleeping or camping on municipal real estate.
Overstreet said the idea stemmed from the U.S. Supreme Court's Medford decision and from questions small towns face about what authority they have to manage their own public property. "My idea was...why not just have a statute that laid out that it's a power of a municipality to control its own real estate," he said, noting that adoption of an ordinance would be voluntary for each city or town.
Jennifer Olson, government affairs director for the Montana League of Cities and Towns, and Brad Longcake speaking for the city of Billings testified in support, saying the bill gives local governments a clear tool to address public-safety and property concerns on municipal land. Committee members asked how enforcement would work; Overstreet said he has a companion bill (cited as House Bill 618) that would make violations a public nuisance and create an enforcement pathway including an abatement process and a private right of action to seek injunctive relief.
No opponents testified in person or online during the committee hearing. The committee took no formal action; the sponsor closed the hearing by restating the voluntary nature of the authority the bill would provide.
