New Santa Cruz Homeless Law Clears Initial Hurdle In 5-2 Vote

SANTA CRUZ, CA — A new city law which would determine where people who do not have permanent homes can and cannot sleep outdoors within Santa Cruz's city limits cleared its first obstacle early Wednesday morning after the city council passed the first reading of the ordinance.

City council members approved the first reading of the ordinance in a 5-2 vote just before 1 a.m. as city officials determine how to answer a “decades-long question of how we solve homelessness. Under the ordinance, camping on many places including beaches and on downtown sidewalks would be banned while camping hours would be limited to day-time hours in other locations.

The new temporary outdoor living law will be considered in a second reading at the council’s next meeting and could be put into effect within 30 days after if it passes, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported on Wednesday. The newspaper reported that the ordinance’s daytime camping restrictions could not be enforced, however, until the city arranges for or arranges for sponsorship of an unsheltered person’s storage program within the city.

City officials have said there are currently 1,200 homeless people residing in Santa Cruz, which has a population of 65,000. Mayor Donna Myers said last week that the issues of handling homeless encampments and other aspects of where people are permitted to sleep outdoors in the city “are very visible in our community right now,” Patch reported earlier this week.

City officials have also made a plea to Gov. Gavin Newsome to intervene in the matter and has requested emergency funding for temporary shelters for homeless campers.

"Even though we are a small city, we still have overwhelming big-city problems," the city wrote in the letter to the governor.

City planning and homelessness response Director Lee Butler made a presentation to the council during Tuesday night’s meeting in which he presented the council with a map that showed both firmly and prohibited areas for overnight sleeping under the proposed ordinance, The Sentinel reported.

Butler characterized the affected area as “a large portion of the city.”

Under the plan, some areas of the city would be off-limits to homeless campers because of cleaning and health and safety. Those areas would include neighborhood and community parks, city-owned oceanfront areas and beaches, downtown Santa Cruz as well as public parking lots; Neary Lagoon; Jessie Street Marsh; Arroyo Seco Canyon; areas within 75 feet of trails in open space areas, bike and pedestrian paths along the San Lorenzo River; areas that contain city equipment, pose a safety hazard or need to be accessible by first responders; or areas with species that are endangered or special status.

Police Chief Andy Mills told the council Tuesday that the new law would require people pack up their camps each night, which would prevent bigger homeless camps from taking shape, the Sentinel reported. He said that those who are found guilty of breaking the law could face misdemeanor charges if a second offense was committed within 30 days of the first.

“The goal is not to criminalize homelessness, but to gain compliance when possible,” Mills said, according to the newspaper.

Patch editor Courtney Teague contributed reporting to this story.