How will Supreme Court homeless camping ruling impact SLO County? ‘There’s no more excuses’

The Supreme Court recently issued a ruling that will increase San Luis Obispo County and its cities’ authority to enforce public camping ordinances that dictate where homeless people can and cannot camp, sleep or rest.

Grants Pass v. Johnson — a Ninth Circuit case that reached the Supreme Court in April — was decided 6-3 on June 28 in favor of the city of Grants Pass, Oregon, finding that the city’s ordinance that made it illegal to camp on public property was not unconstitutional.

With Democrat-appointed Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson and Elena Kagan dissenting, the decision effectively ended more than five years of legal protections for people sleeping outside in states such as California established by the 2019 Ninth Circuit court ruling in the Martin v. Boise case.

Reactions to the ruling from San Luis Obispo County cities and service providers painted a conflicted picture of how the ruling could change how homeless people camping in public will be treated.

In a statement to The Tribune, the city of San Luis Obispo reiterated its commitment to working with homeless residents with compassion, but said it did mean it would be able to enforce its anti-camping ordinance.

“For a long time, cities have been unreasonably limited and faced legal threats regarding their common-sense enforcement of regulations of public spaces and we know that has significantly impacted our community and communities across the country,” the city’s statement read. “City of San Luis Obispo officials are still reviewing this ruling to ensure we are working within the law and our community values to enhance community safety and wellness.”

Elizabeth Funk, CEO of Welcome Home Village project developer Dignity Moves , said she was glad that the ruling provided clarity on whether cities could enforce their camping ordinances.

“There’s something different between criminalizing homelessness and enforcing anti-camping laws,” Funk said. “I am absolutely not in favor of criminalizing homelessness. I am in favor of having the ability to enforce anti-camping laws, and the fact that we haven’t had clarity has paralyzed cities ... there’s no more excuses.”

What do local governments think of the ruling?

Across San Luis Obispo County, local governments were still assessing exactly what the ruling will mean for the way they deal with homelessness.

At the county level, the ruling won’t have any effect on how existing prohibitions on unpermitted overnight camping in certain coastal communities and county parks will be carried out, the county said in a statement.

San Luis Obispo, Morro Bay, Grover Beach, Paso Robles and Atascadero have all implemented ordinances prohibiting camping in certain parts of public space in recent years. In the city San Luis Obispo, where the majority of homeless residents in the county reside, the policy could have more noticeable impacts.

In its statement, the city said it will employ a compassionate approach to working with homeless campers.

“The city of San Luis Obispo will continue to take a measured approach to enforcement that prioritizes public safety, respect for our public spaces and community conduct expectations while maintaining compassion for our fellow community members in need and a focus on connections to services, shelter and housing to support transitions out of homelessness,” the statement read.

In statements to The Tribune, Grover Beach, Pismo Beach and Arroyo Grande all shared a similar view of the ruling: While cities will enforce their ordinances and public camping policies where necessary, they’ll also look to balance enforcement approaches with compassion and outreach.

The Grover Beach City Council unanimously voted to update the city’s camping ordinance in April 2023 because its 2018 ordinance violated the Martin v. Boise ruling.

New Grover Beach Police Department Chief Jim Munro said the 2023 camping ordinance, which changed setbacks and defined a patch of green space bisected by Meadow Creek near El Camino Real as a place where homeless residents could legally camp, has been “instrumental” in reducing homelessness in the city.

“As we continue to analyze the implications of the Supreme Court decision, we remain committed to enforcing our camping ordinance in a manner that balances public safety with compassion,” Munro said. “Our ongoing efforts aim to ensure that all residents, including those experiencing homelessness, receive the support and resources they need.”

In a statement, the city of Paso Robles similarly lauded the decision’s freeing effect on local rules such as its October 2020 urgency ordinance that prohibited camping outside of the hours between 5 p.m. and 7 a.m.

“This ruling is certainly a positive determination for municipalities like ours,” city manager Ty Lewis said in the statement. “SCOTUS’s decision appears to increase our cities’ options and ability to craft ordinances that prohibit sleeping and camping in sensitive public places.”

Only time will tell ruling’s true effect

Critics of anti-camping ordinances and several homeless San Luis Obispo County residents have stated that encampment sweeps can be disruptive to an individual’s ability to survive on the street, sometimes resulting in property loss, fines and jail time.

Funk said she hoped the enforcement of local ordinances would push more cities to adopt targeted, neighborhood-specific transitional shelter spaces such as the Welcome Home Village .

She said cities will need to make the right policy decisions going forward, leaning toward collaboration with providers and shelter space rather than effectively criminalizing the act of being homeless.

“Some cities will do it the wrong way and set really bad policies — hopefully, they’ll learn from that — and some cities will do it the right way,” Funk told The Tribune. “They can’t use the excuse anymore that ‘The court won’t let us.’”

Local nonprofit homeless service providers that provide outreach, aid and shelter to homeless individuals such as the Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo , El Camino Homeless Organization and 5Cities Homeless Coalition provided limited comment on the ruling.

In a statement, CAPSLO said it would “continue to work with county, city and nonprofit partners to advocate for affordable housing and long-term solutions for those experiencing homelessness,” but did not offer comment on how the ruling would effect its work.

5CHC director Janna Nichols said her organization’s relationships with local cities and law enforcement are strong, and they will continue coordinating aid for homeless South County residents with local jurisdictions.

“This ruling does nothing to provide a solution to homelessness,” Nichols said in an email. “Housing, health and income remain the core challenges, and 5CHC’s supportive services to address these three factors, remain a necessity.”

ECHO operations and development director Austin Solheim said as it stands, most of the homeless individuals who are referred to ECHO are referred by Atascadero and Paso Robles law enforcement.

As a result, ECHO isn’t expecting a change in the number of clients it will serve or make contact with in its outreach efforts, Solheim said.

“People are going to be moving around more, but I also think that there’s a potential positive in the opportunity for more engagement, too,” Solheim said. “This may help someone to to choose an option that maybe they wouldn’t have chosen before, to engage in services that they they were on the fence about.”