The City of Olympia has updated its code to make camping a misdemeanor in more areas.
The City Council passed an ordinance update 5-2 on Tuesday to include city Rights-of-Way (ROW) alongside city-owned property and parklets as places that are off limits for unhoused residents to camp in.
The ordinance defines ROWs as the area adjacent to or within any city street, median or alley or public sidewalk. Camping and setting up any camping equipment in these areas will now be punishable by a fine up to $1,000 or jail time for up to 90 days, if the person doesn’t relocate when asked.
The amended ordinance goes into effect Nov. 15.
Police Chief Rich Allen said the city’s current camping ordinance has some gaps, specifically regarding city ROWs.
“For example, if there is a grassy area between a sidewalk and a street, that area is not covered under the current ordinance,” Allen said. “So the amended ordinance has added some language that covers that area, and it would make camping prohibited in those grass areas that I just described.”
He said it was important for him to mention that just because a proposal to change the ordinance was in front of the council doesn’t mean it’s going to change the city’s approach to handling its unhoused residents.
“We will treat incidents in those grassy areas just like we have all over the city, and like we always have. If there’s some kind of public safety risk, we’ll deal with it immediately,” he said. “Other than that, we’ll collaborate with Darian (Lightfoot)’s team, Housing and Homeless Response, and we will engage the people that are there and try and point them to services.”
Council member Lisa Parshley asked Allen why the ordinance was being expanded now. She wondered if OPD is seeing an increase in public safety issues.
Allen said the city has seen an increased level of activity in the area where the daytime camping ordinance was expanded, around the east side of the downtown core near emergency shelter facilities. The council expanded that ordinance area in November of last year .
Allen said the current ordinance, without ROWs, doesn’t give police the tools they need to deal with folks still camping downtown. He said some people need a nudge in the right direction. An arrest for camping or a fine is a very rare occurrence, he said.
“It doesn’t happen a lot, but having a tool that we can use to persuade people to work with Darian and her team to connect them to resources to get them into a more humane condition, humane environment, that’s really where the benefit comes from,” he said.
“Specifically for the Right-of-Ways, there is a public safety concern, and it’s a concern for their safety. Some of these grassy areas are very close to the roadway, and some of them are major thoroughfares, and it’s just dangerous. Cars lose control, cars speed, and it’s a dangerous place for them to be.”
Lightfoot told the council her team has been tasked to manage the city’s current encampments and to not allow any more to grow. She said the ordinance update, combined with that goal and the daytime camping ordinance, allows the city to have more touch points and more ability to get folks connected to resources.
The City Council debate
Council member Jim Cooper voted against the ordinance amendment. He said he’s been watching as jurisdictions react differently to the overturning of Boise v. Martin , which originally struck down city anti-camping ordinances, and some cities are coming up with their own outright camping bans.
He said he wonders where people will go if bans get more and more strict.
“I know that I’ve voted yes on expansions of this, because I’ve rolled with it, and I’ve seen change, and this is not about the enforcement that I would see,” he said. “I don’t expect the police to really be doing much differently. So it’s not really about that either. But as I think about what I’m proud of, it’s not this.”
Mayor Pro Tem Yến Huỳnh said Lightfoot and the Housing and Homeless Response team has been given an impossible task that’s ever changing. She said if she were to lead with her emotions and ideals, she would vote ‘no’ on the ordinance amendment, but that would be unfair.
“I think it would be unfair to give your team the tasks that we have, and for me to vote against this tonight, when it’s something that the people that are doing the work are asking for,” she said.
Council member Clark Gilman said the notion that it’s dangerous for folks to sleep on a grassy median feels a bit like the argument of how dangerous it is that the old oak tree on Old Highway 99 could fall over on him while he’s driving.
“I understand it’s more dangerous than staying inside of a building or something, but I don’t know if it’s more dangerous than riding your bicycle up that shoulder or walking along with a friend and having a conversation. I’m challenged by having that be the lead of our coverage,” he said.
Gilman said the city wants to have everyone be able to be where they want to be, but also hang on to the services the city has stood up. He said there’s been friction with Rosie’s Place and the East Side neighborhood for a decade now.
“This is one where, generally, I’m very much in favor of freedoms for everybody, but I also think that it’s OK to have some rules that say, ‘This is a place where you can sleep, and this is not safe, and it creates a lot of difficulty for the organization that’s trying to provide services right next to you,’” Gilman said.
Mayor Dontae Payne said he would vote in favor of the amendment because, in addition to public safety concerns, residents have repeatedly come to council meetings asking for the city to do something different and balance compassion with accountability.
“I understand that we’re not always going to have the warm and fuzzies and feel the greatest about all the various aspects of a decision like this and what it means, but I do know that what we do need is to take a different approach,” he said.
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