urban camping

Some residents are upset that the ordinance isn’t being enforced as promised or that people are allowed to camp in parks. Others are concerned about how the restrictions will affect unhoused people, especially as winter approaches.

David Moore writes, "The City of Missoula’s ordinance that allows overnight shelter in parks is an attempt to groom the citizens into accepting a lower quality of life for the entire community."

City Council members write, "This was the ruling that many of us expected but it is not what Missoula plans to do. We understand this requires a thoughtful and compassionate response regardless of what the courts do or don’t allow us to do."

After months of debate and years of consideration, the Missoula City Council on Monday night adopted new policy regulating the time, manner and place in which crisis camping is permissible in parks and on public property.

The Washington State Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to take up a case against a Spokane ballot measure that bans camping within 1,000 feet of schools, day care facilities, parks and playgrounds.

Citing a desire to balance the needs of both the housed and unhoused while also protecting the environment and local businesses, the City of Missoula on Tuesday unveiled the framework of a new strategy intended to address “crisis camping.”

A federal judge is weighing whether to temporarily prevent a San Francisco Bay Area city from moving homeless people who camp in public parks.

Several Western cities filed an amicus brief on Sept. 25 asking the court to overturn previous rulings by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, whose jurisdiction includes district courts in Nevada, that the cities argue prevent them from ousting homeless camps.

Dozens of cities in the western U.S. asked the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on a decision by the Ninth Circuit that makes it all but impossible to enforce ordinances against homeless camps.

Most members of City Council contradicted their votes after a flurry of amendments and hours of debate, supporting the ban at one point and amending it at another.