Placer supervisors approve ordinance aimed at cleaning large homeless encampment in Auburn

The Placer County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved an ordinance Tuesday to regulate homeless encampments on county property — which stops short of limiting them to only daylight hours.

The ordinance has been hotly debated over the last few months. The ordinance passed Tuesday contained several changes, making it less stringent than the originally proposed plan.

“This is not the perfect solution, but this is one tool in our process in how we’re trying to really meet the needs of the unsheltered,” said Supervisor Bonnie Gore during the meeting.

The ordinance prohibits camping on county property or fire-prone areas where signage is posted, with exceptions made for those camping due to inclement weather or when shelters are full. The original draft of the ordinance would have limited camping between the hours of 7 p.m. and 7 a.m., but after receiving feedback from the community, that stipulation was removed. According to a staff report, members of the public voiced concern the “daily breakdown and set up of camps would create a hardship, particularly for elderly or disabled individuals.”

Residents also shared concerns that a daytime camping ban would cause homeless individuals to congregate, or just move their encampment elsewhere.

Deputy County Executive Bekki Riggan said, under the new ordinance, the county would form a task force to better monitor the camp and clean it up regularly to address health and safety concerns. She said the county would also step up enforcement against illegal dumping.

Chair Cindy Gustafson said at the meeting that the ordinance was broad enough to allow “adaptive management” of homeless encampments and enforce rules for the safety of everyone involved.

The new rule applies countywide, but it’s designed to regulate a large homeless encampment at the North Auburn government campus. About 100 people live there in 67 campsites directly across the street from county offices.

The site of the encampment is also near the future site of the county’s new health and human services building.

“Those camping by necessity will be allowed to stay on county property; however, they will also be expected to assume a reasonable degree of responsibility for the condition of their camp and for their behaviors,” the staff report said.

Under the amended ordinance, law enforcement officials can “clean and clear any camp facilities on county property at any interval deemed necessary to ensure proper sanitation and health standards are maintained.”

Implementation of the new policy is expected to cost the county $150,000 in clean-up efforts, the staff report said.

This story was originally published March 9, 2022 at 10:26 AM.