This week, the Austin City Council has two meetings planned to discuss potential changes to the homeless ordinances regarding sitting, lying, and camping in public. It’s an issue that has only grown larger over the years, and was magnified significantly this summer when the city council chose to allow camping virtually anywhere. Despite the continued calls from critics to rescind those changes, the council has said it has no plans to bend to the will of their constituents, and will instead press on through minor changes to the issue, which has continued to fester.
On Wednesday, council will hold its first meeting. Over the past few weeks, council members have been debating their own dueling proposals. One of those proposals would issue a complete ban in much of downtown, West Campus, sidewalks, and areas at great risk for fire and flood. Another proposal would allow camping in all of those places, with a few caveats, including a four-foot gap in walking space on sidewalks to allow pedestrians to traverse the growing number of tents and campsites.
A new plan has also been discussed this week involving a phased-in approach to these changes. Those phases would be broken up into three categories:
CATEGORY I:
-Immediately enforceable areas including:
- Areas of public health and safety risk
- Construction zones
- Private property
- Specific sidewalks (with a clear definition of what defines a ‘sidewalk’)
- Creeks, streams, and culverts
CATEGORY II:
-To be considered only after new housing and services have been offered
- The outside perimeters of shelters would then be banned for camping
- Considerations of bans on other high-traffic streets, including Rio Grande and Red River
CATEGORY III:
-Only to be considered after the city has successfully eradicated homelessness and all those who are willing to move into a shelter have been housed
- A complete public camping ban could be considered on all sidewalks and busy streets
Wednesday’s meeting will begin at 1:00 p.m. at Austin City Hall. The council will not be taking any publlic comment.
A second meeting will be held on Friday.
