Elk Grove amends city ordinance on camping following Newsom’s order on homeless camp clearings

Elk Grove City Council unanimously passed an amendment to a city ordinance Wednesday that shortens the window of notice city officials must give to those at homeless encampments, or unlawfully camping in the city, to 24 hours before temporarily seizing their property.

The previous notice was a 72-hour window. The amendment, the city said, will allow them to respond quicker to camp clean-ups.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order in July that effectively ordered California cities to clear homeless encampments.

In accordance with other jurisdictions in the region and the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Grants Pass v. Johnson, Elk Grove will prohibit the following: “sleeping on public sidewalks, streets, or alleyways; sleeping in any pedestrian or vehicular entrance to public or private property abutting a public sidewalk; occupying a campsite upon any sidewalk, street, alley, lane, public right of way, park, bench, or any other public property and/or under any bridge; and camping on private property without the consent of the property owner.”

The city originally voted in 2022 to implement enforcement efforts that address the health and safety concerns presented by unlawful camping and homelessness growing in Elk Grove. The ordinance states it is illegal to camp, setting up tents, tarps or sleeping bags, on both public and private property.

This includes: “camping within 500 feet of grounds of any daycare center, school, playground or youth center; camping in an area greater than 150 square feet per person; encampments of four or more people within 50 feet of each other without permitted electrical, water or bathroom facilities; breaking or damaging any lock on public facilities or impeding access to any public facility including locking city staff out of a facility or public area; blocking or obstructing access to a public facility, sidewalk or other public right-of-way; and camping on private property without the owner’s consent.”

The city’s police department, as well as other city departments, regularly receive calls for service regarding homeless people.

“It’s not only the city of Elk Grove, but the region and the entire state and so we all needed to step up and I’m glad that the governor recognized that and issued an executive order to that end,” Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen said this week. “This isn’t going to fix the homelessness issue and so having a multi pronged approach is what’s needed. I’m happy to see that we have the tools that we need, not only as a city but in the entire region.”

The city has often found that some homeless persons live in makeshift shelters on both private and public property, such as tents and tarps in Elk Grove. This generates a public health and safety hazard, a city report said.

“Anything that we can do to help get people into a place of safety, as a building block to get them back on the road to getting back on their feet, is definitely commendable,” Elk Grove vice mayor and Council Member Rod Brewer said. “This is definitely not one of the easier issues to come across. But this is something that has to be done because we have to do what we can to help our fellow man and woman out.”

Under the existing ordinance, personal belongings and property will be held by the city for 90 days to provide individuals the opportunity to reclaim their items. Individuals experiencing homelessness will still be able to maintain their access to transportation through the use of bus passes.

Individuals and families will be able to utilize the transitional housing options for three to 18 months and make connections to permanent housing, including being preferred listed for some affordable housing options.

According to the city, homeless camping areas and encampments generate hazardous waste, including human waste, and create dangerous health conditions.

“Homelessness is a very serious issue,” Brewer said during Wednesday’s meeting. “Anything that we can do to help people get on their feet again, fighting with whatever demons that they’re fighting with, but really doing our part to help them out is very humane and definitely moving towards the right goals…in the right direction. It’s definitely needed.”

The city said a violation of the ordinance is a misdemeanor. No additional city fines will be imposed. Any criminal fines related to a misdemeanor violation would be decided by a court.

“I’m so thankful that we’re proactive in trying to solve this issue instead of just kind of shy away from it,” said Council Member Sergio Robles. “Happy to see that we’re as a city, we’re moving forward and thank you for approaching this from a humanistic standpoint.”

The city’s goal is to provide those experiencing homelessness with potentially available resources to improve their condition, such as housing support services and transitional resources such as ID cards, mobile phones and financial benefits like motel vouchers for families with children and vulnerable populations.