Grants Pass to Provide 150 Camping Spaces, $60k in Services After Disability Rights Suit

This story by Shaanth Nanguneri was originally published in Oregon Capital Chronicle. It has been shortened.

A southern Oregon city that gained national attention for its practice of punishing homeless people for camping outside has agreed to provide at least 150 spaces for individuals to do so after a lawsuit alleged its practices discriminated against disabled individuals. 

That Supreme Court ruling cleared the way for more stringent restrictions on homeless individuals in the West, but in Oregon, a state law only allows cities to regulate sleeping outside if those regulations are “objectively reasonable” to time, place and manner. Grants Pass responded by passing ordinances that allow people to stay in designated areas only between 5 p.m. and 7 a.m. and to remove tents or other supplies each morning or face a $75 citation. 

Disability rights advocates and five homeless individuals sued, and the city reached a settlement this month. The settlement says the city will offer at least 150 units of camping spaces for homeless individuals. The city must also provide drinking water at any approved camping sites, and the property must be in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act for the next year. 

The city had limited homeless people to stay and sleep in just one site with about 30 tents at any given time, prompting concerns about overcrowding and a lack of drinking water. In January, local officials closed another site with space for about 120 tents.

Since then, Circuit Court Judge Sarah E. McGlaughlin has ordered the city to halt enforcement of its ordinances against homeless encampments until the city restored capacity for 150 tents, exempting several parks from her mandate. The city and plaintiffs have agreed that the additional capacity for campaign will be on property owned by the city or operated by a third-party city contractor, according to the settlement. 

The city will also install shade at drinking facilities and award a $60,000 grant to a local nonprofit to provide services for homeless residents. The facility receiving the money must have bathrooms.