Merced city council wants to ban camping in public. What to know about proposed ordinance
The City of Merced appears to be moving toward joining other California cities in passing an ordinance that would prevent camping on sidewalks and other public areas.
The City Council voted during their Oct. 21 meeting to revisit the ordinance, which states it’s unlawful and a misdemeanor for any person to camp, occupy camp facilities or use camp paraphernalia in city property, including parks, streets, sidewalks and other public areas or within 1,000 feet of schools.
The City Council and Mayor Matthew Serratto voted 6-1 to revisit the ordinance in the next meeting. Councilmember Fue Xiong was the only no vote.
The anti-camping ordinance will likely be voted on during next city council meeting scheduled for Monday, Nov. 4.
The ordinance discussion comes after a recent Supreme Court decision that civil and criminal penalties for camping in public areas do not represent “cruel and unusual punishment” for homeless individuals under the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The high court’s 6-3 decision overturned lower-court rulings that blocked anti-camping laws in western U.S. states including California.
In July, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order for state agencies to add policies to clear homeless encampments on state property. The order encouraged local city and county agencies to add similar policies.
If passed, violators of the Merced anti-camping ordinance would face escalating fines for first, second and third offenses within a 12-month period. Originally the ordinance would have called for steeper fines, but during the meeting, council appeared to agree on a $50 fine for the first offense, and then $150 and $300 fines for second and third offenses, respectively.
Merced resident Gloria Sandoval spoke out against the ordinance during the council meeting.
“I want to call this ordinance totally ridiculous, because you are really trying to fine people, who eventually are going to end up in jail,” Sandoval said. “Why? Because they don’t have money. Simple as that. I really think you need to think about this one a little longer.”
Xiong said he feels the ordinance is targeting the homeless.
“We are criminalizing homelessness, right? We might try to dress it up however we want to, but we are doing that,” Xiong said. “We’re not going to write tickets to a person wearing a suit sleeping at a park, taking a nap. We’re not going to do that. That’s not my understanding of how this is going to work. And so we are purposely targeting the unhoused population.”
The City of Fresno passed a similar anti-camping ordinance in August. Other California cities such as Morro Bay and Folsom also have similar ordinances.
Merced Police Chief Steven Stanfield said officers won’t be citing people taking lunchtime naps in parks. Officers will be enforcing the ordinance on those who appear to be setting up to stay, especially when parks close after sunset.
“This is a camping ordinance,” Stanfield said. “So when you see these camping ordinances, you need to have the idea of any person that is camping in the park, sleeping or occupying the area they’re putting up, setting up a tent. If they’re unrolling sleeping bags and setting up campfires. It’s the camping aspect and utilizing our parks as camp.”
Merced councilmember Jesse Ornelas spoke about his experience of living in encampments after being displaced.
The verbiage in the ordinance originally prohibited the encampments to be no less than 500 feet from schools. Ornelas suggested that be increased to 1,000 feet and other councilmembers agreed.
“I don’t think that students should have access to these encampments, being as someone that’s actually been in one for an extended period of time,” Ornelas said. “There’s no reason why a young person should ever have to be close to what goes on there.”
Ornelas said he hopes the fines and consequences will help people get on the right path. He said maybe that will help them seek the resources and programs that they need. Orenlas also spearheaded the council to lower the more punitive fines ranging from $250 to $1,000 that were first proposed.
“I will make a decision, because the young people, the children, the elders, that have to navigate these communities,” he said.
This story was originally published October 29, 2024 at 6:00 AM.
