Council bans camping on public property; passes sewer fee increase

People caught camping on city property risk getting arrested and sent to jail under a law passed by the McMinnville City Council Tuesday night.

The law allows people to sleep on public property, but they are prohibited from camping between 6:30 a.m. and 9:30 p.m.

Additionally, the law bans sleeping on public property in the urban renewal district (basically downtown McMinnville), in public parks, parking lots and on public property in residential neighborhoods.

What's left, said Police Chief Matt Scales, is public industrial and commercial property or any public property they can find outside the forbidden areas.

The new law also applies to RV and car camping. People living in RVs and cars along Northeast Dustin Court and Marsh Lane will have to find other places to park their vehicles during the day.

Scales told councilors at the meeting the west sides of Dustin Court and Marsh Lane will be painted with yellow stripes early next week, making them fire lanes and prohibiting any kind of parking whatsoever. Creating the fire lanes was a decision made by fire department officials independent of the new law. Vehicles parked in the new fire lane could be towed and impounded as soon as the lines are painted.

Violators would be subject to impound fees and other financial penalties.

The fire lane on Marsh Lane will extend to the second driveway and the gates of McMinnville Water & Light. On Dustin Court, the fire lane will extend through the cul-de-sac at the end of the street.

Violation of the new camping ban will be a Class C misdemeanor and punishable up to 30 days in jail or up to $1,250 in fines. Police also have the authority to impound people's vehicles and confiscate their belongings left at campsites.

 Scales said police will begin enforcing the law after 30 days, giving officers time to educate people living on the streets about the new rules and also give them a chance to find alternative places to sleep.

Councilor Remy Drabkin voted in favor of the law during its first reading but abstained during its second reading and passage.

The council passed a ban on camping on public property last Aug. 28, but the city decided it could not enforce the law following a ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals a week later.

The court ruled that cities cannot arrest people for sleeping on public property when they have no alternative.

Drabkin said the council's Aug. 28 law could be enforced if the city invested in adequate housing for people experiencing homelessness.

Scales responded that city officials have been talking about alternative housing for four years, and the new law gives his department the immediate and practical means to respond to  homelessness.

Also Tuesday night, councilors created a new franchise fee that increases local sewer rates by 5 percent to bring an additional $500,000 into the city's general fund. The increase goes into effect Monday, July 1.

Although councilors have discussed using the money to address homelessness issues, it has yet to be earmarked for any specific purpose.

The lack of specificity concerned councilors Zach Geary, Adam Garvin and Sal Peralta; Geary and Garvin ultimately voted against the fee increase.

Councilors held their meeting at the McMinnville Community Center to accommodate a crowd of about 300 people.

A total of 18 people offered their comments on homelessness -- with 13 people expressing anger over the issue and the remaining five urging the councilors to view people living in tents, cars and RVs with greater empathy and compassion.

See Friday's News-Register for more.