Minneapolis City Council members voted on Thursday to begin crafting three proposed ordinances to change the city’s approach to homeless encampments.
This comes after the city evicted Camp Nenookaasi in south Minneapolis three times between January 4 and February 1, forcing camp residents to relocate each time.
“It definitely impacts our residents and all unhoused residents,” said Christin Crabtree, a Camp Nenookaasi organizer. “We are firm in our understanding that despite our differences, we all need to come together on this issue.”
One of the proposed ordinances would develop regulated “safe outdoor spaces” or individualized outdoor shelter options for unhoused people. Another would create a public health response to encampments by providing health and sanitation supplies. The third would require the city to provide detailed reporting on encampments, such as tracking what happens to unhoused individuals.
The council voted to allow the ordinances’ co-authors and city staff to craft the proposed ordinances more fully. Then, the proposed ordinances would be presented to city committees, which would make amendments to the ordinances and hold hearings to gather public input before the language is finalized. The full City Council would then take a final vote whether to pass them.
The proposed ordinances are part of the solution to address homeless encampments, said Council Member Jason Chavez, who is co-authoring the ordinances with Council Members Aisha Chughtai and Aurin Chowdhury. Chavez represents Ward 9, where Camp Nenookaasi is located.
Chavez said residents have told him they are fearful of Camp Nenookaasi occupants, and find it difficult to breathe around the camp because of the heavy smoke from its wood-burning fires. But, he said, most of his constituents support Camp Nenookaasi.
“Both neighbors, whether they support the encampment or not, believe that we should be treating people more humanely,” Chavez said.
A few “safe outdoor spaces” have already been successful in Denver, Colorado, he said.
Denver opened its first safe outdoor spaces in 2020 in response to homelessness during the pandemic. The city-sanctioned sites allow parking and campsites for people facing homelessness. They also offer resources such as storage, portable bathrooms, and mental health counseling.
Chowdhury said the status quo from current city policies has led to more encampments without reducing homelessness.
She also said the third ordinance would “accomplish transparency to the public,” by mandating publicly reporting and tracking city data, such as the cost of an eviction and the number of police officers dispatched to an eviction.
The first ordinance will go through the city’s Business, Inspections, Housing and Zoning committee for amendments and public hearings. The second and third ordinance will go through the city’s Public Health and Safety committee.
Ahead of Thursday’s meeting, some council members said they wanted more details before adding their full support.
“I’m interested to see how this all flushes out,” said Council Member Michael Rainville, adding that he hopes the proposed ordinances will also address sex trafficking and drug addiction at encampments.
Rainville also echoed a past statement from city officials and other council members, emphasizing that officials from all levels of government should “step up” to provide more housing resources and social services to address homelessness.
“This is a statewide problem,” he said.
CORRECTION: Due to an editing error, a previous version of this story misstated the day of the city hearing.
