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Washington Supreme Court hears challenge to Spokane homeless-camping initiative
Summary
In oral arguments Sept. 17, 2024, petitioners urged the court to strike Spokane's homeless-camping initiative as precluded by state homelessness planning statutes; respondents argued the measure is a permissible exercise of local police power and that a superior-court ballot ruling was final under RCW 29A.68.011.
The Washington Supreme Court heard competing arguments Sept. 17 over whether Spokane's voter-approved restrictions on public camping go beyond the scope of local initiative power and conflict with state homelessness-planning law.
Noel Loney, counsel for the petitioners, told the court the initiative must be overturned because it intrudes on a state-mandated, coordinated planning process that assigns final homelessness-policy decisions to local elected bodies. "We're asking the court to reverse the court of appeals and hold that Spokane's homeless camping initiative exceeds the scope of the local initiative process," Loney said, arguing the initiative fails the court's multi-part test for scope challenges.
Loney urged the justices that when the legislature prescribes a comprehensive planning and…
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