Newport council adopts ordinance regulating public encampments with outreach emphasis

The Newport City Council voted to adopt a new ordinance intended to govern public encampments and provide city staff and police with clearer procedures for responding to unauthorized camping. Mayor (on the record as meeting chair) told the council the measure came from a task force that has met for months and asked Chief Bingham to highlight the ordinance’s aims.

Chief Bingham said the ordinance draws on templates used in other Vermont towns and emphasizes a ‘‘balanced approach’’ that combines respect for human dignity with the city’s responsibility to protect public infrastructure. He told the council the draft spells out definitions, high‑sensitivity zones, public‑health and safety factors, and a graduated enforcement approach that prioritizes referrals to outreach partners such as NECA and Journey to Recovery for non‑emergency violations.

Members of the public urged the council to clarify where people can legally camp and to strengthen due process and trauma‑minimizing practices. Pamela (resident) said the ordinance as drafted risks moving people repeatedly without telling them where they may legally go and called parts of the draft ‘‘cruel.’’ Melissa Moseley, assistant director at Journey to Recovery, and Tessa from Front Porch described positive working relationships with the police and urged continued coordination with service providers so people are linked to treatment, shelter alternatives and basic needs rather than only removed.

Councilors proposed specific, limited edits before final action: replace the phrase ‘‘critical water infrastructure’’ with ‘‘critical utility infrastructure’’ in section 3.a.4; change sec. 3.d’s environmental language so it covers areas ‘‘designated by any government entity as environmentally sensitive, protected, or ecologically fragile;’’ and insert a cross‑reference tying language authorizing removal ‘‘without prior notice required’’ to the notice and removal requirements in section 4 to preserve consistency on due process. Council asked task force member Travis Gaines to supply a finalized, redlined version to the clerk.

After those changes were accepted by acclimation, the council moved, seconded and approved the ordinance as amended. The mayor said the version adopted this evening was draft four and thanked task force members and community participants for their input. The council directed that the final language be provided to the clerk and published according to state notice requirements; on the record the clerk and another councilor discussed that the ordinance will be printed in the newspaper and go into effect after the statutorily required notice and appeal period.