Grants Pass Bans Outdoor Sleeping, Creates Designated Camping Areas

The city council in Grants Pass, the Oregon city involved in a Supreme Court case that allows cities to prohibit unhoused people from camping on public property even when no other options are available, passed a law that bans camping everywhere except in four designated areas where the city will provide toilets, handwashing stations, and trash receptacles.

In an article for the Associated Press, Claire Rush explains that the new rules create four designated locations where unhoused residents can set up tents. Camping elsewhere in Grants Pass is subject to a $50 citation. The designated locations only allow people to stay for one day, or four days in the case of one site. The city says the sites are not meant to be permanent encampments.

Grants Pass Mayor Sara Bristol acknowledges the law is a stopgap solution that doesn’t address the causes of homelessness or provide supportive services, calling it the beginning — but not the end — of the city's strategy to alleviate homelessness. The city has plans to build two additional shelters and identify other properties for camping sites, according to the mayor.