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PECS committee debates vagrancy/unauthorized camping ordinance; defers 30 days for legal review
Summary
A proposed ordinance to amend DeKalb County code on vagrancy and unauthorized camping drew detailed debate over wording, prior notice, property removal and available services; the committee voted to defer for 30 days so law staff can align the draft with existing code and clarify enforcement and resource provisions.
Chair Nicole Messia presented an ordinance to amend DeKalb County’s code addressing vagrancy, unauthorized camping and certain nuisance behaviors, saying the intent is to clarify behaviors that law enforcement may address while avoiding criminalizing homelessness.
The law department provided a substitute draft that it said could be approved in form, but commissioners requested several substantive clarifications before any final action. Commissioner Long Spears asked for a direct comparison to existing code chapters (chapter 16) and suggested removing or reframing the word "warning," arguing the draft’s structure implies escalation to…
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