MISSOULA — The Missoula City Council in early December will consider changes to the city’s rules restricting camping on city property, including banning camping in all parks and changing violations from a civil infraction to a misdemeanor.
The council on Wednesday discussed the proposed changes, heard public comment and set a public hearing for Dec. 2 in a 7-3 vote, with council members Daniel Carlino, Kristen Jordan and Jennifer Savage opposed.
Sponsors of the proposal — Council Members Sandra Vasecka, Bob Campbell, Amber Sherrill, Mike Nugent, Gwen Jones and Stacie Anderson — said the changes were in response to public concerns about camping in parks and challenges implementing the rules.
“We need to look at parts of this ordinance that aren’t working very well and make some modifications, that’s what good governance is,” Jones said during Wednesday’s meeting. “We need to address some areas that, frankly, haven’t worked in the community, change that up.”
Carlino and Jordan, who opposed the original ordinance restricting camping, said the proposal doesn’t solve anything and criminalizes homelessness.
“The answer is to provide housing and shelter space and safe places where people can camp, not to spend resources on giving criminal charges and moving them in circles,” Carlino said. “This is a huge step in the wrong direction.”
The current law, which took effect July 25, sets buffer zones where people are not allowed to camp. Individuals can camp in most city parks, but camping is banned within conservation lands, as well as in nine listed parks. Where camping is allowed, tents must be taken down from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day.
The rules establish a vehicle-camping permit system allowing someone living in their vehicle to stay parked in certain areas for up to 90 days before needing to move to a different street.
City officials must refer individuals to a shelter or other temporary housing and provide information about services before enforcing the rules. A first violation gets a written warning with suggested remedies. Subsequent violations may be enforced as a municipal infraction, which is not a criminal charge. State law allows municipal infraction fines up to $300 and Missoula has been seeking a $50 fine, said City Attorney Ryan Sudbury.
The proposed changes stemmed from Vasecka and Campbell’s initial amendment to ban camping in all parks and were expanded as other council members joined as co-sponsors, Campbell said.
Under the proposal, a violation would be a misdemeanor and punishable by a $50 fine. Jail time is not authorized. It also removes the requirements for a written warning before a citation and for those enforcing the rules to inquire about a caseworker or other service providers and attempt to contact them.
Sudbury said the proposal adds language to clarify that while unsheltered people may camp on city property, that only includes areas open for public use. The amendment also would allow updates to closure areas on the city’s urban camping webpage, rather than only by posting signs.
The proposal includes language to make it clear that the city is willing to provide city land for a service provider willing to operate a designated camping facility, Sudbury said.
The amendment would remove the section of law directing the mayor to develop a program to support urban camping, which is a policy statement not typically included in city code, Sudbury said. A resolution passed earlier this year includes similar language, and the mayor will continue to work on exploring resources and a designated campsite, said Dale Bickell, the city’s chief administrative officer.
For city staff, implementation of the rules has been more complicated than expected, Bickell said. Police have issued 128 written warnings and 28 citations, but processing the civil infractions is proving difficult and complicated, he said.
Missoula officials hoped the municipal infraction proceedings would be an efficient and informal process, as seen in other cities, Sudbury said. However, the city’s municipal court interpreted the section as essentially being civil litigation, and the state statute does not clearly dispute that, he said.
Sudbury said he is worried about the city attorney’s office and municipal court’s ability to manage the added workload that comes with civil litigation.
Missoula Police Patrol Capt. Matt Stonesifer told the council that enforcing the rules has been like “building an airplane while flying it.” Educating officers on the complex ordinance, as well as educating the public, has been a daunting task, he said.
Municipal infractions are new for the department, and tracking written warnings across different teams and shifts was also a challenge, Stonesifer said. While in the field, officers had some difficulties interpreting the language variations in some requirements, such as the different buffer distances and how they are measured, he said.
If the proposal is passed in December, the city will continue to focus on education and outreach with enforcement, Bickell said.
Council Member Carlino questioned how the proposal is not criminalizing homelessness or survival camping when it authorizes criminal charges.
Council Member Nugent said the intent of the fine is to set clear guidelines on the use of public spaces and make sure parks are accessible to anyone.
“The idea that by having rules at the very end for the small amount of people who choose not to follow rules and ignore them, I don’t think that is criminalizing homelessness,” Nugent said. “I think it’s acknowledging that rules have to have some accountability. Without that, people who choose not to follow rules have very little consequence.”
If the violation is changed from a municipal infraction to a misdemeanor, it won’t show up on criminal histories because it is a violation of municipal code, not state law, Sudbury said. From his perspective, the change is more procedural than substantive because it is a low-level code violation with the same fine amount, Sudbury said.
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Some Missoula residents are upset that the ordinance isn’t being enforced as promised or that people are allowed to camp in parks. Others are concerned about how the restrictions will affect unhoused people, especially as winter approaches.
Council Member Jordan asked where unsheltered people are supposed to go if the proposal takes effect.
Missoula’s shelters have room for 553 households, and many are at or near capacity, said Eran Pehan, the city’s Community Planning, Development and Innovation director. Pehan said numbers fluctuate throughout the year, and as of Oct. 15, 664 individuals and families were experiencing homelessness in Missoula, according to the statewide database used by the city.
The Johnson Street shelter was averaging 128 people but reached its sleeping capacity of 160 Tuesday night as the temperatures fell below freezing, Pehan said. The shelter can fit up to 25 more people, she said. The Poverello Center has 150 beds and is sleeping around 110 people, but some of its beds are reserved for veterans or medical respite, Pehan said. The Meadowlark, which shelters families and those fleeing domestic violence, is full and creating a waiting list, she said.
Council Member Sherrill said that since few people are sleeping in the parks right now, banning that wouldn’t have a huge impact on the ground. Other city-owned property open to the public will be available, and as river levels drop, the buffer zone of 50 feet from the water’s edge will be less restrictive, she said.
More than two dozen members of the public commented on the proposed changes. Though most agreed that no one wants people sheltering in parks, people voiced varying opinions on the current law and proposed changes.
David Moore said he represented No Camp Missoula, a group that gathered 1,100 signatures from residents opposing the current law and supported the changes. Moore said camping in parks jeopardizes children’s safety and the investment the community has put in the parks.
Several people voiced concerns about the proposed change to a misdemeanor and how unhoused people will afford a $50 fine.
“A lot of us are really struggling here, even ones that are housed, so for people who are unhoused, it’s harder to get on their feet,” said Ren Parker. “I can’t afford $50, and I’m fully employed and housed. I’m concerned it will make the problem bigger.”
Some commenters asked the council to provide resources rather than punishment.
“Until we can create room at our shelter, which is often at capacity, they just need a stopgap,” Kate Bernot said. “I don’t see why a public space that’s supposed to be for all can’t be that.”
Council Member Jones said the city is doing other things outside the rules to address homelessness, and the restrictions are not intended to solve the problem but to address other issues.
The city has limited money and resources to dedicate to shelter and other services and needs state funding, Council Member Nugent said.
Mayor Andrea Davis said the city is aware of a group of service providers, including Partnership Health Center, that are looking at available resources and exploring a way to come up with a plausible designated campsite. The discussions are in the early stages and will likely continue next month, she said.
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