The city of Missoula has a new strategy to address homelessness, but there is no simple solution to the problem. A new emergency ordinance in place immediately clarifies that not all city lands are closed to overnight camping or sleeping.
On Monday night, the Missoula City Council met for nearly six hours to discuss the emergency ordinance regarding urban camping in the city. The council heard heated public comments late into the night.
The ordinance comes after a ruling from the Ninth Circuit Court which prohibits cities from enforcing bans on public camping if they do not have enough shelter space available.
“There are lots of people who are ultimately forced right now to be camping in urban spaces, in our parks and erecting structures, because that's what you would do if you had to live outside for long periods of time,” said Andi Hoelzel, a Missoula resident.
The council voted 9-1 to pass the emergency ordinance, but it didn’t pass without pushback from Missoula residents.
“Sweeping people under the rug is not going to help at the end of the day, and it has never been adequate to solving these issues that we all care about and we all know are huge in the city. It has never been adequate to meeting the needs of people in this moment, and I don’t think there will ever be a point in the future where it will be adequate to meeting the needs,” said Gwen Nicholson, a Missoula resident.
Council members approved an amendment to change the hours city parks are open to the public, which will now be 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. That amendment passed unanimously.
They emergency ordinance changes the city code which said it was illegal to camp anywhere in the city, removing that language because it’s not permitted by the Ninth Circuit Court ruling Boise v. Martin.
“The reality is that the overwhelming majority of us are one big medical bill, one major financial setback or one family crisis away from losing our housing. When making decisions like this, it's important to consider how you'd hope you’d be treated. Consider how you want your family or city to treat your family if you're in a situation where sleeping overnight in a city park was the only option you had,” said Seeley Davidson, a Missoula resident.
The proposed ordinance aims to bring city laws into compliance with the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court ruling. They are not intended to criminalize homelessness, nor are they intended to be used as a tool to remove people from city parks.
One goal of the ordinance change is to help prevent large, semi-permanent encampments from developing in the most heavily visited parks.
“We are pleased that the Council passed that. That is one very limited tool in a whole suite of tools that we need to address this ongoing crisis. I want to keep the eye on the ball that the most important thing is figuring out long-term solutions around housing and sheltering, but this is one key piece of the puzzle,” said Missoula Mayor Jordan Hess.
For clarification, local authorities do not forcibly remove individuals from public places. Individuals are not cited unless they’re violating criminal codes, endangering their own or others’ safety or creating risks to public health.
This emergency ordinance is set to last for 90 days, but another measure is in play to continue it permanently. The City Council set a public hearing for this ongoing matter for June 26.
For more information on this ordinance you can visit this link.