Oakland OKs contentious rules on homeless encampments

OAKLAND >> City officials in Oakland, growing weary of a ballooning homeless population, approved a contentious new policy that will prohibit homeless people from setting up tents in parks or near homes, businesses, schools and some churches.

The Oakland City Council unanimously approved the measure Tuesday after more than 100 community members spoke mostly against the rules that also allow homeless encampments in certain areas of the city as long as they follow safety and sanitation rules.

Mayor Libby Schaaf said the policy, which will start being enforced in January, establishes Oakland’s first citywide rules on homeless encampments. She called it “a compassionate response to an unacceptable condition.”

“I’m grateful to the City Council who voted unanimously for a new encampment policy that will help us improve the well-being of all our residents, housed and unhoused,” she said in a statement. “Ending homelessness is a moral imperative.”

The homeless population has jumped by 63% since 2017 in Oakland, where the median house sales price is about $750,000. There are about 4,000 homeless people — many of them living in at least 140 encampments of tents and RVs.

“The problem has outgrown the City’s current policy environment,” Joe DeVries, director of Interdepartmental Operations, said in a report.

Under the new rules, homeless people won’t be allowed to set up camp within 150 feet of a middle school, preschool or child care center, or within 100 feet of high schools, or within 50 feet from homes, businesses, public parks and places of worship, or within 25 feet of a homeless shelter.

Homeless encampments can be in a “high- sensitivity” area as long as they are managed by non-profit or faith-based organizations, according to the new rules. The city defines such areas as places where an encampment can impact the health and safety of both homeless and housed populations.

They will be allowed to set up tents in “low-sensitivity” areas. But they will be limited to one side of the street, and won’t be allowed to block sidewalks or bike lanes, store flammable materials or tires or take up more than a 12-by-12-foot area per person.

Camps in the permitted areas that break the rules and are set for closure will be given a 72hour notice and residents will be offered temporary shelter. No one will be cited or arrested for camping in public spaces.