ORANGE : Camping Ban Is Aimed at Homeless

Despite protests by advocates of the homeless, the City Council unanimously gave preliminary approval Tuesday to an ordinance that will ban camping on public property.

The ordinance, based on similar laws in Fullerton, Long Beach, West Hollywood and Santa Barbara, was amended from an earlier draft last week after the Legal Aid Society of Orange County warned the city that the ordinance could be unconstitutional.

City Atty. Robert O. Franks said the new document clarifies the city’s definitions of public property and camping, among other things.

But Legal Aid attorney Harry Simon called the changes “superficial” and said the ordinance will attempt to enforce “fuzzy” standards that can be legally challenged.

“We are at a philosophical impasse,” Simon said. The changes “don’t go far enough, and we are hoping the city will rethink its position.”

The ordinance could violate the rights of the homeless to move about freely, and it essentially punishes them for being indigent, Simon stated in a letter to the council.

Franks said Tuesday that the ordinance addresses “a public health, safety and welfare issue” and does not “discriminate against the homeless or any particular group.”

City officials say homeless people have been found washing in the historic downtown fountain and sleeping on city benches, in the plaza area and in city parks.

Residents of the W. O. Hart Park neighborhood have long complained that transients have taken over the park.

According to the ordinance, camping is defined as “the use of public streets or public property for living accommodation or habitation purposes such as sleeping . . . or storing personal belongings . . . or personal items.”

The new law will prohibit camping on public property, including streets, alleys, sidewalks, parkways, bridges, culverts and drains and on city property such as parking lots, plazas or squares.

Erection of huts, shanties, tents, tarpaulins and other temporary structures will also be prohibited under the ordinance. Violators could be charged with a misdemeanor, carrying a maximum punishment of up to $500 and six months in jail; or they could be cited with an infraction requiring payment of a ticket ranging from $50 to $250, Franks said.

The Legal Aid Society has suggested that appropriate ways of achieving the city’s goals would be to prohibit the erection of structures on public property and ban sleeping on certain public land during the night.

Simon warned that a ban of the homeless from public land could drive the homeless into residential neighborhoods or effectively--and illegally--banish them from the city.

The Santa Ana City Council gave preliminary approval to a similar ordinance Monday despite the Legal Aid Society’s warning that the city could be held in contempt of a 1990 Superior Court ruling prohibiting the city from taking “concerted action to drive the homeless individuals from Santa Ana.”