Portland City Council passes revised outdoor camping ban after weeks of debate

PORTLAND, Ore. (KGW/KTVZ) — The Portland City Council passed a new version of an outdoor camping ban Wednesday morning, capping off weeks of fiery debate, particularly between Mayor Ted Wheeler and Commissioner Rene Gonzalez, about how aggressively the city can police encampments without running into the same kind of court challenge that halted the original ban last year, KGW reported. 

Wheeler's less-aggressive proposal ultimately won out, but while the council vote was unanimous, the brief discussion at Wednesday's meeting signaled that the underlying argument is far from settled, with Gonzalez in particular criticizing the new policy as both too complicated and insufficiently tough.

The new ban passed as an emergency ordinance, allowing it to take effect immediately rather than after the usual 30 days. In a news release, Wheeler's office said enforcement will begin in the coming weeks, and Wheeler later said that police will receive specialized training before they begin enforcing the ordinance.

The final version of the new ban prohibits homeless residents from camping on public property or public streets and sidewalks if they have access to "reasonable alternative shelter." If shelter space isn't available, the ordinance still bans camping that obstructs sidewalks or private property access.

It also bans the use of fires or gas heaters at campsites, and bans campers from setting up any structures or causing environmental damage, and it requires campers to keep all their personal belongings within two feet of the outside of their tent.

Violators can be punished with a fine of up to $100, up to 7 days in jail, or both, although the ordinance includes language encouraging the district attorney to divert offenders into emergency shelter programs or other services when possible, in lieu of pursuing convictions for violating the camping ban.

"All of this is going to be tracked using an app that was developed by my team," Wheeler said on Wednesday. "I’m pleased to say it was a very inexpensive app; they used a tool that was readily available online. We can now tell where every single city shelter bed is, whether there’s availability, and that also includes treatment beds."

Council debate

The council enacted the original daytime camping ban in June of last year, intending to pair it with the development of a series of large-scale sanctioned campsites, but homeless Portlanders challenged the ban in court and a Multnomah County Circuit Court judge placed an indefinite hold on enforcement in November.

Wheeler introduced his new proposed version last month, which he said was designed to withstand a court challenge by tracking more closely with Oregon law and Martin v. Boise. The 2018 federal Ninth Circuit Court ruling prohibits western U.S. cities from enforcing camping bans if there is not sufficient local shelter space available for everyone sleeping on the streets. Oregon House Bill 3115, passed in 2021, puts similar restrictions into state law.

Gonzalez countered with a far less legally cautious proposal to ban all unsanctioned camping on public property regardless of shelter availability; the proposal appeared to be banking on the hope that the Oregon Legislature will change state law and the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn the Martin v. Boise standard when it rules on a similar case out of Grants Pass.

Commissioners Carmen Rubio and Mingus Mapps also proposed amendments to Wheeler's plan, although they weren't complete overhauls. Gonzalez, Rubio and Mapps are all running for mayor this year.

The Gonzalez proposal would have included stiffer stiffer legal penalties for campers, and given the Portland mayor unilateral power to change how the ban is enforced on the fly, although Gonzalez subsequently introduced new amendments that cut down on those provisions.

The dueling proposals sparked heated public testimony and debate between Wheeler and Gonzalez when the council brought up Wheeler's plan for initial consideration two weeks ago, with Gonzalez arguing that the city should take a values-driven approach amid a fluid legal environment and Wheeler countering that a stricter crackdown would be legally unenforceable. 

The Mapps and Rubio amendments were approved and added to Wheeler's plan when the council first brought it up for consideration two weeks ago, but the Gonzalez proposal ultimately failed; Commissioner Dan Ryan supported it, but Rubio and Mapps joined Wheeler in supporting his original proposal.

When the ordinance came back for a final vote on Wednesday, Gonzalez prefaced his vote with a lengthy criticism of the plan, saying he was only voting for it because he had spoken with law enforcement officials who said they would prefer to have "something on the books, even if flawed."

He reiterated an expectation that the Supreme Court will change the legal framework around camping ordinances later this year, and said he didn't think the ordinance would be effective because it doesn't include an unconditional ban on camping on public property.

"This approach was done out of fear," he said. "Unelected attorneys for well-funded homeless advocates seem to have more influence on this code than the office of the commissioner for public safety. Fundamentally, this code is more about managing risk of lawsuits, less about providing relief to Portlanders."

Wheeler again pushed back, arguing that a more forceful crackdown would be a violation of Martin v. Boise and state law, opening the city up to legal challenges, and described the earlier proposed changes as unconstitutional.

"The people of this city have me for nine more months. If after nine months, you want to disband with conditional rights and you want to disband with the notion of following the law, you may do so," he said. "But as long as I am mayor, I will continue to fight in support of constitutional rights and in support of upholding the law. I realize that may make me unpopular. I don't care."