In 2021, the city of Auburn passed an ordinance prohibiting camping on all city property including parks and at all city-owned facilities. That required the city to offer houseless campers an alternate shelter first before taking legal action.
The idea then was not only to address homelessness, but also to align Auburn’s laws with the 2018 Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling in Martin v. the City of Boise, which had found that anti-camping ordinances prohibiting camping on city properties bar cities from criminally prosecuting unhoused individuals when no alternate shelter is available on the date the camping activity occurred.
At a city council work session Aug. 26, city leaders heard Kent Hay, Auburn’s Director of Human Services and its Homeless Outreach Coordinator, talk about amending the ordinance, this time to ensure it aligns with the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in the case of Grants Pass vs. Johnson on June 29, 2024. That decision overturned the Boise ruling, and with it laws like Auburn’s across the nation, giving cities more authority to enforce prohibitions against camping on city-owned property.
The high court found that the city of Grants Pass, Oregon, had not violated the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, as the plaintiff, Johnson, had argued, when it enforced camping bans against its unhoused residents.
Writing for the majority, Justice Neil Gorsuch asserted that the American people, “through their voluntary associations and charities, their elected representatives and appointed officials, their police officers and mental health professionals, know better than some judges the best way to address homelessness in their cities and towns.”
Hay laid out Auburn’s intentions to amend the city’s camping ordinance “to regulate camping on city property, to protect parks infrastructure and sensitive environmental areas, ensuring the maintenance of those lands and facilities.”
The city’s proposed amendments would remove:
• The section of city code that require city employees to first offer houseless campers such overnight shelter as is available on the date the violation occurred before it can take legal action against them.
• The lone exception to the above rule, which exempts the houseless from prosecution if their tent or shelter provides an unobstructed view through it from at least two sides.
Critically, the suggested amendments also shift the rationale for the ordinance to “protecting public health and safety from homeless camping,” and “maintaining the intended use and integrity of the city’s public spaces,” ensuring they remain safe, clean and accessible for all residents.
“Unauthorized camping poses significant public health risks due to inadequate sanitation and can lead to environmental degradation, safety concerns, and a decline in the quality of life for the community,” the city wrote in its summation of the amendments.
By more consistently implementing its camping regulations, the city asserts, it can “better protect its parks and facilities, promote equitable access for all citizens,” and foster a more vibrant, welcoming community.
“This amendment also aligns with the city’s commitment to addressing homelessness through targeted support services rather than permitting encampments in public spaces. City Council is urged to consider this amendment to uphold the safety, cleanliness, and intended use of our City-owned properties,” the framers of the proposed amendments wrote.
