Dixon City Council approves ordinance to ban sleeping and camping in public spaces

DIXON – The Dixon City Council unanimously approved an ordinance Monday to ban sleeping and camping in public spaces in response to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that now allows cities to do so.

The U.S. Supreme Court, in the case of City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, on June 28 overturned a lower court’s ruling that had prohibited cities from enforcing public camping ordinances by deeming it to be cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment. Now, municipalities can create and enforce these ordinances, even if local shelters cannot accommodate the homeless population.

The city of Dixon has done just that. At Monday’s meeting, Mayor Glen Hughes noted that homelessness is the top third or forth complaint he hears from constituents.

“I’m looking at this [ordinance] as a way to reasonably deal with that and give our police department some teeth in which to work,” Hughes said.

Within the city limits of Dixon, individuals are now prohibited to sleep or engage in “public camping,” defined as establishing a temporary place to live, on any public property. That includes those parking a vehicle overnight for the purposes of sleeping or otherwise using the vehicle for public camping, according to the ordinance.

Enforcing the new regulation is “not just grabbing somebody out of a campsite and evicting them from the city,” Hughes said.

According to the ordinance, those in violation will receive a 24-hour vacancy notice before the site and any belongings are removed, unless immediate removal is necessary for reasons that include “posing a risk to the health and safety of the city.”

After removal, law enforcement will inform the local social services agency of the situation and store any personal property collected from the site for a minimum of 30 days, according to the ordinance.

As a penalty, “it has a graduated system starting at as little as $75 on the first incident,” Hughes said.

The second incident is $150, the third $350, the fourth $500 and, finally, $750 for the fifth. If someone were to be in violation for six or more times, the penalty could be a $750 fine or incarceration. If they’re unable or choose not to pay those fines, the penalty could be completing community service hours or incarceration, according to the ordinance.

At the meeting, council member Mary Oros pointed out that “the city has partnered with multiple organizations and agencies within our community to help address the needs of these people or individuals,” using Sinnissippi Centers, the PADS Homeless Shelter and Sauk Valley Voices of Recovery as examples.

That’s the first step, she said, but when those resources are “blatantly not taken, then we have to be responsive to the community as a whole.”

In August, the Sterling City Council debated implementing a similar ordinance but ultimately has remained undecided. Council members agreed with it being a public safety concern but felt the city should first ensure that the community has the resources available to make the need for public camping preventable.