Council Backs Away From New Camping Ban

Tovo and Kitchen's resolution includes "encampment response strategies." (Photo by John Anderson)

After a special called meeting that promised action on the city's public camping and no sit/no lie ordinances fizzled out on Friday, Sept. 20, consensus on City Council appears to be forming on how to move past this summer's controversy and on to implementing policies that could help reduce homelessness.

Interviews with council members this week reflect agreement that clarity needs to be provided to law enforcement and to the general public on how the ordinances can be enforced, but the question remains open as to how Council should go about providing that clarity. Initially, the idea was to amend the ordinances Council had previously revised on June 20, as we reported last week, but now a new line of thinking suggests Austin Police Department brass can give their officers needed direction without Council having to take action.

That clarification would likely take the form of a "clearance zone," as outlined by CM Greg Casar and Mayor Steve Adler in their proposal last week. Instead of Council directing APD to enforce the camping ordinance's prohibitions on obstructive behavior, police leadership could issue guidelines that define "obstruction" as any camping, sitting, or lying that does not leave at least four feet of space on a sidewalk. Police Chief Brian Manley told us that APD needs guidance from Council or the city's legal department on what constitutes a "clearance zone" before his officers can begin enforcing that standard, but thereafter the department can establish a "legally defensible method of determining whether or not a person was in violation of that minimum distance," such as measuring the distance in some way. He said APD is in "early conversations" with staff on what the standard would look like, but before he can develop guidance for how officers should enforce it, that standard will need to be cemented.

Some on Council are still concerned that any camping or sitting or lying on sidewalks could be obstructive for some in the city. For that reason, CM Kathie Tovo said on Friday that she still supports total prohibitions on some sidewalks throughout the city; doing so would also make enforcement easier for police, she said. But her colleagues – likely the majority on the dais – are wary of such prohibitions, fearing a return to how enforcement of the ordinances worked before June 20. CM Natasha Harper-Madison voiced support for law enforcement but wants to be sure the Council does not act in a way that re-criminalizes homelessness. "It's very important that whatever changes we make, we don't offer any expansion of the original ordinances," Harper-Madison told us from her office at City Hall on Tuesday. "I can see how my colleagues have an opinion on targeting certain areas, but I don't see how we can do that in an equitable way."

Beyond any clarification needed on enforcement of the camping and no sit/no lie ordinances, Council is still undecided on other points, such as whether people should be prevented from camping along creek beds or just within them, if camping within high-fire-risk areas should be allowed, and when to put up signs announcing that camping is prohibited in a particular area.

Consensus has also not been reached on what to do with a resolution brought by CMs Ann Kitchen and Tovo to provide additional direction to staff on how to implement parts of the city's strategy on ending homelessness. A majority of Council would prefer to give staff, especially Lori Pampilo Harris, the new homeless strategy officer, time to execute the policy direction already given before adding to their plate. Some pointed to the "prescriptive" nature of the resolution, concerned that Council could inadvertently restrict how staff acts by providing too much direction.

One idea from the resolution, dubbed the "encampment response strategy," offers detailed guidelines on how staff should address camps throughout the city, beginning with the "highest priority encampments" near the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless (in Tovo's District 9) and under Ben White Boulevard near Manchaca and South Lamar (in Kitchen's D5). First, outreach teams would attempt to connect people in camps with housing and services before moving them to temporary shelter in hotel rooms or other locations purchased by the city. Other CMs don't disagree with these ideas; they just want to hear from Harris and staff first on how they think an encampment strategy should be formulated. "We all want people to be moved to safe places," Adler told us on Tuesday, "but how that's done, we should leave to the experts on our staff. I want them to do what's best and find the right balance between emergency shelter, rapid rehousing, and permanent supportive housing."

But Tovo characterized the resolution and potential ordinance changes as "halves of the same whole" and said the resolution would do more than just provide guidance to staff: It would send a message to the public that Council supports the phased strategy proposed in last week's ordinance revisions. "It's important that as a Council, we endorse [the strategy] and ask City Manager [Spencer Cronk] to identify resources we need to make sure we can provide them," Tovo told us. "Some in the public have said they don't feel like Council has a plan, so it's important to articulate our strategy to them."

No matter how Council gets there, it's clear they all want to move beyond the debate on ordinances – by the Oct. 17 meeting at the latest – and on to solutions to homelessness like more robust housing. CM Casar said he hopes to see the city move soon on purchasing more buildings, like a hotel or older apartment building, to be used to support a variety of housing needs. He notes that the last Point in Time Count found 1,086 unsheltered individuals experiencing homelessness, and housing all of them would greatly reduce the public need for camping. "You house one thousand individuals by doing it 50 beds at a time," Casar said, "so I hope our attention can soon turn to those solutions."

In other Council news, the controversial 4700 E. Riverside zoning case was postponed until Oct. 17 at the applicant's request, citing a need for more time to get paperwork in order. Council also approved a contract with the Police Executive Research Forum to evaluate how Austin police have responded to sexual assault; see Daily News for more details.