Street Camping Regulations Passed By Santa Cruz Council

SANTA CRUZ, CA — The Santa Cruz City Council passed an ordinance this week to set new rules for street campers, but it's unclear when they will take effect.

Dubbed the Camping Services and Standards ordinance, the rules passed on a 5-2 vote Tuesday night. Councilmembers Sandy Brown and Justin Cummings cast the dissenting votes due to concerns that additional community input was needed and the ordinance could face legal challenges, as some members of the public indicated a civil rights lawsuit could be forthcoming.

Here are some of the highlights of the new ordinance.

• Camping is banned an hour before sunset to an hour after sunrise, so long as shelter space is available.
• The city will create a storage facility and safe sleeping sites for unhoused persons. The city manager may create daytime sleeping sites if there is a need to do so.
• Daytime encampments are banned when shelter space or storage space is available.
• Items placed in storage will remain there for 90 days.
• People cannot camp in a city park for more than three nights in a 12-month period.
• Open fires are not allowed.
• Encampments must be maintained in a sanitary manner in a 12-foot by 12-foot space.
• Campers and encampments cannot cause direct damage to the natural environment.
• The city must leave notice at encampments at least 24 hours in advance of a planned sweep.

A $20 fine may be issued to those who violate the ordinance. A person who refuses to comply in a reasonable amount of time could receive a misdemeanor and any items seized during an arrest must be placed in city storage facilities.

The rules will not take effect any sooner than July 9 — 30 days after passage of the ordinance. The city still must provide necessary programs detailed in the ordinance such as safe sleeping sites and storage facilities.

Safe sleeping sites may be placed in areas such as city-owned parking lots, closed parts of public right-of-ways, or private property, so long as those areas are not near neighborhoods or schools; exceptions are made for "religious assembly uses and school-sponsored programs," according to the ordinance.

"We still have some work to do to get those things up and running," said Lee Butler, the city's director of planning and community development, at Tuesday's meeting.

The passage of the ordinance comes months after the council killed another controversial proposal known as the Temporary Outdoor Living Ordinance. Residents argued that more community input from residents and homeless advocates alike was needed before its passage.

The ordinance also comes two years after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in the landmark Martin v. Boise case that Boise police could enforce the city's ban on sleeping in public only if there were enough shelter beds to accommodate every homeless person in the city. The Martin v. Boise ruling forced Santa Cruz, like many cities, to scrap its previous ordinance and look for a new solution.

Read the ordinance here.