MORGANTOWN — A citywide ban on camping or using “camp paraphernalia” on any public property will be up for discussion when Morgantown City Council convenes for Tuesday’s committee-of-the-whole session.
Included on the posted meeting agenda is an ordinance creating a new article of city code, Article 1157, titled “camping on public property.”
In short, the law would define camp/camping to mean “pitch, erect or occupy camp facilities, or to use camp paraphernalia or both for the purpose of habitation, as evidenced by the use of camp paraphernalia.”
“Camp facilities” include tents, huts and temporary shelters. “Camp paraphernalia” includes, but is not limited to, tarps, cots, beds, sleeping bags, blankets, mattresses, hammocks, portable cooking facilities and similar equipment.
The ban would apply to any street, any park or trail and any public property, improved or unimproved. It would also outlaw storage of personal property on any public property.
A first violation of the law comes with a fine of no more than $500. A second violation within one year is a fine up to $500 and up to 30 days in jail. Each day that a violation continues shall be deemed a separate offense.
Morgantown City Councilor Louise “Weez” Michael voiced her support for such a ban during council’s July 2 meeting, days after the Grants Pass v. Johnson ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court gave political bodies the legal breathing room to take such steps.
“I think the encampment ban will help get people out of these conditions that they’re living in all over Morgantown, in our streets,” Michael told The Dominion Post on Friday. “Some of these encampments are becoming a safety and health risk. I believe getting people out of that environment can help them move toward resources that provide help, housing or recovery.”
Michael explained that she decided to speak up after hearing from numerous constituents. Both WVU and Main Street Morgantown offered public support.
“This is affecting the economic development of our downtown. A lot of concerns are coming from our business owners; our residents who want to come downtown. I’m even getting complaints from students, faculty, teachers. I think it’s my job to help them,” Michael said.
“I think if a lot of people were to see some of these places, they’d understand. These are not living conditions that anybody should be advocating for. I most certainly wouldn’t advocate for somebody to live like that. So, we really need to start focusing on getting people out of these conditions and into recovery and housing. … I’m not trying to hurt anybody. I’m trying to help them. We’re a small-enough town that we can do that.”
Days after Michael first raised the issue, legal advocacy group Mountain State Justice issued an open letter co-signed by the ACLU of West Virginia, Milan Puskar Health Right, Project Rainbow, Morgantown Pride, the 17th Judicial Circuit Public Defender Corp. and the League of Women Voters.
In short, the letter said camping bans do not and cannot address the root causes of homelessness, but further “stigmatize, punish and traumatize the most-vulnerable people in our community.”
Asked Friday for comment on a potential camping ban appearing on council’s upcoming agenda, Lindsey Jacobs, with Mountain State Justice, said hers is one of many organizations across the country preparing new legal strategies to challenge such restrictions.
“There is seemingly no failed policy that Morgantown won’t try in lieu of embracing evidence-based solutions that are proven to work,” Jacobs said. “That leads us to believe that cruelty is the point, not solving homelessness.”
Council will decide during the committee-of-the-whole meeting whether it wants to move the matter forward for consideration during a regular business meeting.
If it does, the earliest the ordinance could be up for first reading is Aug. 20. Council is not meeting Aug. 6 due to the West Virginia Municipal League’s annual conference, in Huntington.
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