The Missoula City Council is moving forward with a proposed emergency ordinance on overnight camping in public spaces.

Residents are noticing urban camping becoming more common around the city, and many are asking, “why?”

The Poverello Center is already operating at capacity, and when the Johnson Street emergency winter shelter closed on April 10, it left more than 80 people with no place to go.

On Wednesday, a Missoula City Council committee approved an emergency ordinance saying not all city lands are closed to overnight camping and declaring an emergency to protect public health, safety and welfare.

The goal is to come into compliance with a Ninth Circuit Court ruling that says cities can’t enforce bans on public camping if they don’t have enough shelter beds available.

“It is cruel and unusual punishment to criminalize camping in a park if someone is homeless and has nowhere else to go and if we have no shelter beds and no space available, and frankly the city of Missoula is not in the business of criminalizing homelessness that has never been our intent and that is certainly not our intent right now,” Missoula Mayor Jordan Hess said.

City Council is expected to take action on the emergency ordinance June 5. If passed, it will be in effect for 90 days.

Click here to read the ordinance.