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Lancaster council adopts camping ban ordinance after debate over private-property language
Summary
Council passed Ordinance Temporary 38-25, adopting Chapter 568 to prohibit camping in many public and private locations; some council members warned the language could unintentionally affect private-property uses such as backyard family camping, and the city’s assistant law director said enforcement is not intended to penalize harmless activity.
Lancaster City Council on Sept. 8 approved Ordinance Temporary 38-25, which amends the city’s General Offenses Code to adopt Chapter 568 prohibiting certain forms of camping. The measure passed on second reading 7-3 after debate about the ordinance’s scope.
The ordinance, introduced by Mr. Bizjak with Ms. Bitler as second, is aimed at addressing improper or illegal camping in trailers, campers, RVs and tents on public and private property, according to council discussion and the Assistant Law Director. Mr. Bizjak said the city has received numerous complaints about people camping improperly or illegally on public and private property.
Councilwoman Brenda Crites (referred to in the record as Mrs. Crites) objected to the ordinance’s current wording. She said it could create a "perfect storm" where a strict officer and an angry neighbor could lead to a homeowner being cited, and noted that at least one other municipality has approached the problem without a broad private-property ban. "The blanket inclusion of private property is the core issue," she said, urging refined language to avoid penalizing harmless activities such as family backyard camping.
Assistant Law Director Mitch Harden, who drafted the ordinance, told Council the intent is not to penalize backyard family camping and that the ordinance targets problematic camping in trailers, campers and tents. He said enforcement practices typically include multiple opportunities to leave before an enforcement action is taken. "It is not intended to penalize situations like a family camping in their backyard," Harden said.
Mrs. Bitler, who seconded the motion to pass the ordinance, told Council she shared Mrs. Crites’s concerns and planned to vote no. The transcript records the motion passing 7-3; the meeting record does not include a member-by-member roll-call breakdown in the text for that vote.
What happens next: The ordinance will move to implementation; Law and Code Enforcement departments were directed implicitly to prepare enforcement approaches, but the transcript does not specify an implementation timeline or any specific training or guidance documents.
