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Residents urge council to halt encampment sweeps and expand housing supports
Summary
Several residents and advocates at the council meeting urged an immediate moratorium on encampment sweeps, more shelter capacity and a designated safe site for people living outdoors; commenters described harm from repeated displacements and asked the city to use its influence with the state for funding and program improvements.
Multiple residents and volunteers used the public-comment period to press the Lansing City Council for changes to how the city addresses unsheltered residents. Speakers described repeated encampment sweeps that displace vulnerable people, loss of personal belongings, and difficulties for outreach workers trying to provide services.
Kit Faren and other volunteers described program failures during earlier temporary housing actions and asked the council to pause sweeps until the City’s NOVA ModPod project and other shelter planning are fully operational. Ivan Drosssty and others urged a moratorium on sweeps and proposed setting aside an underused city parking lot as a temporary sanctioned site where people could camp without repeated displacement while the city scales permanent housing and services.
Commenters also linked the issues to broader policy priorities: calls for more street outreach teams, better funding for transitional and permanent housing, and for the council to use its voice with state lawmakers to secure additional resources.
No formal council action on encampment policy was recorded during the meeting; multiple speakers asked for council direction and policy changes going forward.
Provenance: public-comment record in the meeting.
