AUBURN, Wash. — The City of Auburn is enforcing stricter rules on their public camping ban.
The amended ordinance went into effect on Tuesday, after the city council voted to pass the modifications on September 16th. Ordinance 6950 makes it illegal to camp on city-owned properties and facilities. It also prohibits people from obstructing streets, highways, and sidewalks.
The city ordinance also bans overnight camping in parks. If people don’t comply, they could potentially face a misdemeanor charge, a $1,000 fine and/or up to 90 days in jail.
“We want everybody to be able to enjoy those spaces and use them as they’re supposed to be used. That’s the reason why the camping ordinance was amended, to allow those spaces to be used the way that they’re intended to be used,” said Kent Hay, Human Services Director for the City of Auburn.
Hay told KIRO 7 these changes are meant to help the city protect and preserve public areas, like parks and recreational areas.
“What you get is a lot of fires, you get people cutting down the trees,” Hay explained. “The amount of garbage that you have, foil, needles things like that. So you have people who can’t go fishing without stepping over those things and are not able to enjoy those spaces as they are meant to be. So we want to give that back to the community.”
The amended ordinance means city employees will no longer have to offer shelter before moving people off public properties.
“The homeless, they just have no place to go now if they’re gonna go out to the parks and tell them they can’t stay there or the woods. You know they’re asking them out of every place,” said Robert Kleest.
Kleest told KIRO 7 he’s been homeless for years. He feels like this ordinance will only force unhoused individuals out with nowhere else to go, especially with cold weather ahead.
“They’re gonna be freezing, you know. Looking for cardboard or laying on the sidewalk or whatever you know, begging for a blanket. It’s gonna be rough,” Kleest said.
Kleest says he’s fortunate enough to have a car and uses the city’s only shelter daily, but says it’s not the same case for everyone.
“Where are all these people going to go? This one only fits 48 people. You’ve got hundreds, maybe thousands of people that are homeless,” Kleest added.
Hay says he’ll keep offering people help toward housing, but it’s up to them to take it.
“We have everything in place for people to be successful. If you want to help, we have the help. If you don’t want to help, then you know Auburn - this might not be the place to come and just camp out,” Hay explained.
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