The City of Phoenix on Wednesday approved an ordinance that will ban the homeless from camping within 500 feet of schools, businesses that provide child care, shelters, or parks.
Effective September 1, the Phoenix City Council approved the ordinance unanimously, according to KTAR News, which reported violators “will face a $100 fine for the class 3 misdemeanor.”
“It’s so that no child has to walk past a line of tents on their way to school or play on a playground with tents pressed up against their school fence,” said Councilwoman Ann O’Brien in a statement to Arizona’s Family. “It’s so our community members can feel safer going to their parks, and those receiving services have a higher chance of success by not being surrounded by encampments.”
In passing the legislation, O’Brien added, “I was told stories of encampments along sidewalks leading up to schools and crowds of folks openly doing drugs at parking lots of day cares,” according to KTAR News.
Current city ordinances regarding camping in Phoenix only prevent the homeless from camping adjacent to property “that is owned, possessed and controlled by the city,” unless a special permit is issued by the Parks and Recreation Department.
Phoenix was previously home to The Zone, the largest homeless encampment in Arizona, but the city cleared the encampment by November 2023 following a protracted legal battle with local business owners who successfully obtained rulings declaring the city negligent in its duties.
By February, however, officials feared The Zone could reemerge due to the continuing homeless crisis. The concerns prompted the city to approve an emergency $1 million from leftover COVID-19 recovery money to fund the Central Arizona Shelter Services (CASS), which operates Phoenix’s largest homeless shelter.
Phoenix businessman Steve Trussell told Fox Business on May 20 that the situation has improved since The Zone was cleared, but added to the network, “It’s still pretty bad because we still have a lot of incidents in terms of folks walking in or people that are on drugs.”
Nonetheless, the outlet reported crime has dropped by about 50 percent since the homeless encampment was cleared last year.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Homeless Camps” by Elvert Barnes. CC BY-SA 2.0.
