SPOKANE, Wash. — Spokane City Council voted to pass a new camping ordinance Monday night to clarify restrictions and increase police officers’ ability to enforce the camping ban.
The “Safe and Accessible Spaces” ordinance passed unanimously, solidifying the council’s bipartisan effort to work across the political aisle.
The Council said it is the first time in recent memory that all seven City Council members have formally sponsored an ordinance.
The new legislation builds off a previous camping ordinance and extends the law to prohibit camping on or obstructing public property including, stairs, medians, plazas, bridges and transit facilities.
It also gives Spokane Police Department officers more discretion in offering services to willing suspects and/or citing violators. There are also increased consequences for repeat offenders.
“The current law is viewed as unclear, and leaves open the question of whether an individual could be cited for breaking the law before accepting services,” a description of the ordinance reads. “The ordinance enhances penalties for some violations and removes a provision that required persons cited for unlawful burning to be cited and released. The ordinance imposes stiffer penalties for repeat offenders and aims to address camping and obstruction on all public property, including rights-of-way and entry points to private properties.”
Multiple citizens spoke in favor of the ordinance during public comment, often citing a concern for public safety.
“Downtown desperately needs change and people need to feel safe again… especially during a time when we need downtown to be as thriving as it can be,” said a spokesperson from Downtown Spokane Partnership.
Many in support of the ordinance also mentioned a concern for the wellbeing of those facing homelessness.
“This is a good start, but there are not enough behavioral health services,” said one speaker. “Let’s continue to expand places for people to exist and get access to more services.”
Each councilmember spoke before the vote.
“This is one of the few emergency ordinances that is truly an emergency ordinance,” said Councilmember Cathcart. “I am truly grateful for how the council came together on this ordinance… it’s one of the rare times I can say this truly feels nonpartisan, and I think that is a win. Our public spaces really do belong to everyone, and they need to be safe and accessible to everyone.”
Councilmember Cathcart went on to praise the ordinance for the way he said it clarifies and strengthens camping enforcement laws.
Councilmember Klitzke commented on how months of collaboration went into developing the ordinance.
“This is our best effort at bipartisan engagement… it is an important and difficult issue we have to keep working on,” Councilmember Klitzke said. “We wanted SPD and the community to understand what we wanted from this ordinance, and hopefully you see that reflected out on the street.”
The ordinance will go into effect immediately.
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