YAKIMA, Wash.- Cities are looking at their ordinances addressing outdoor camping bans following the Supreme Court decision in Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson.
That ruling allowed cities to enforce bans on outdoor camping bans, directly impacting the homeless population.
“Our local camping ordinance is what I call Boise compliant,” says Yakima City Attorney Sara Watkins. “How the ordinance reads is it is unlawful for any person to camp or occupy camp facilities or paraphernalia in city streets, sidewalks, parking lot or any land owned by the City of Yakima.”
Citing the 2019 Boise v. Martin case, the homeless population in Yakima has already been referred to resources to find housing instead of arrests.
“This give us an opportunity if there’s people that are just not complying and kind of skip that step,” says Yakima Police Department’s Interim Chief Shawn Boyle. “For the most part, I think there’s not going to be a huge change in the manner in which we enforce the camping laws.”
The conversation at the June 9 City Council meeting didn’t come with any action items, but the council needed to discuss if any changes would need to be made and what those changes would be.
“Since this case came out, people very interested to see how this will affect local enforcement efforts,” said Deputy Mayor Matt Brown.
One suggestion presented to council, was to eliminate the requirement for police to verify with homeless shelters for vacancy.
“As the Supreme Court said this, the ability to have these unlawful standing ordinances is really a tool in the toolbox,” says Watkins. “The city has a lot of tools that it uses, one of which is the unlawful camping ordinance.”
Camp Hope’s CEO Mike Kay believes the changes will be positive, though it could be met with resistance at first.
He also says that while some may think the changes means police will be arresting every homeless person, that he trusts the local law enforcement officers to try and help before arresting.
“The goal has always been to get them into shelters,” says Kay. “I don’t think Grants Pass is going to affect it too much in that effect. So, I think some of the hubbub about police are going to arrest all these homeless people. That’s not been my experience with our law enforcement partners.”
City Council says any changes to the ordinance will have to be presented and adopted by the council at future meetings.
