(Credit: City of Austin)
Since July 1, when enforcement of Austin’s ordinance regarding camping in public was relaxed, a more visible presence of homeless campsites has become a reality across the city. Whereas once the tents and sleeping bags were relegated to areas that were mostly out of sight of the public’s view, the Austin City Council has forced the issue into the front-and-center, leading to massive outcry from concerned residents that the city is not only creating an unsafe environment for all citizens — homeless and those who are not — but has also created an eyesore. After weeks of controversy, Mayor Steve Adler has now released a list of potential restrictions on where the homeless can camp, sit, or lie in public.
In a post on the city council message board, council member Greg Casar says: “I support (and have supported) all of the past and new programs listed in the document. I am in alignment with the guiding principle listed here that: Prohibiting camping, sitting, and lying, without providing people with a place to go, is a failed strategy. Moving people experiencing homelessness away from one public place only moves them to another public place. Nor is camping a solution to homelessness. We do not want any of our neighbors, especially our most vulnerable, to have to live with the public safety and health risks of life on the streets. We can and must do better for those experiencing homelessness, for our public spaces, and for our community as a whole.”
Mayor Steve Adler is in agreement with Casar, noting that no amount of restrictions will chip away at the root problem as he sees it: a lack of money for more permanent housing. However, his list of possible restrictions are as follows:
Vehicular traffic
-
Adjacent to roadways or medians
-
djacent to or on transit, bus or rail facilities
Sidewalks, paths, and trails
-
Allowing safe, unobstructed passage for people and wheelchairs, bikes, strollers, etc.
Schools/child care facilities
Creeks, rivers, floodplain, flood ways, high fire risk areas
Areas with high pedestrian activity
-
Specifically naming some streets (e.g. Congress Avenue, Second Street, Sixth Street,
-
South Congress, or the Drag, etc.)
-
Entrances to buildings, residences, or businesses
Shelters, bridge homes, navigation centers
-
The Austin Resource Center for the Homeless (ARCH)
At Tuesday’s city council work session, Adler again reiterated his belief that more funding and more housing is truly the only answer.
“Whether you’re concerned about people or you’re concerned about places, the answer is exactly the same. We have to find the appropriate homes and services,” he said. “If we house the folks that are experiencing homelessness in our community, then we don’t have camping in our community.”
As of Wednesday morning, a petition on Change.org seeking to have the city council rescind the homeless camping ordinance has reached nearly 27,000 signatures.
