City Council votes to ban camping on public property

Despite pleas from nearly two dozen people to ax or postpone action on an ordinance to prohibit camping on public property, the Colorado Springs City Council voted 8-1 Tuesday to approve it.

“Doing nothing is not an option,” Councilwoman Jan Martin said after listening to more than four hours of comments from a parade of homeless advocates, homeless campers, Colorado College students, businessmen and everyday citizens.

Councilman Tom Gallagher, who was once homeless, cast the lone opposing vote.

“This is a personal issue for me,” he said. “Jesus Christ came into the world homeless; he left homeless.”

Enforcement won’t begin for at least three weeks because the council has to give the ordinance a second reading — and perhaps a third, if the wording changes.

A couple of speakers, including anti-tax crusader Douglas Bruce, got the council talking about tweaking the wording after questioning whether it would stand up to constitutional scrutiny. Bruce said the ordinance was poorly worded and gave police too much discretion to enforce it. He took aim at a comment by Colorado Springs police Cmdr. Kurt Pillard, who told the council that campers will first get a warning and that no action will be taken against them if shelter is unavailable.

“What kind of criminal code is that?” Bruce said. You can’t have criminal-codes act in such an arbitrary and capricious way.”

Deputy City Attorney Wynetta Massey said the ordinance was patterned after one in Orlando, Fla., that had passed constitutional muster.

The council’s vote came with a request for the city attorney to review the ordinance.

“We want to make sure that if we pass an ordinance that has a lot of impact, it’s worded correctly,” Mayor Lionel Rivera said after the meeting.

The council actually voted 8-1 on two proposals — one to amend a section of the law on camping restrictions, and another to create a section of the law specifically prohibiting camping on public property.

Almost three dozen people commented on the ordinance, and only a few spoke out in support. One was a west-side shop owner who said he and neighboring businesses had been vandalized by campers.

“As business owners, we strongly believe an ordinance would be in the best interest of our community,” he said.
Many of those opposing the ordinance said the city needs more options for shelter before a no-camping law takes effect, and Gallagher agreed.

“Our sheltering policies are totally inadequate because they’re one-size-fits-all,” he said.

An estimated 300 to 500 people live in the camps, which have mushroomed near downtown and the west side. Those pushing for the no-camping ordinance say the camps pose a sanitation and safety threat.