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Ordinance to ban urban camping passes in Centennial

By 07/09/2019 | updated 6 years ago

Centennial has adopted an urban camping ban on public property, becoming the latest metro area municipality to do so.
 
The City Council voted 9-0 Monday night to ban camping on city property including sidewalks, trails and parks.
 
“This ordinance is about protecting the safety of our citizens,” councilwoman Kathy Turley said before the vote.
 
City officials said the ordinance would not be used to jail people who violate it.
 
“Really what this allows us to do is approach folks that are on public property that may need resources,” Glenn Thompson, chief of the Arapahoe County Public Safety Bureau, told the council.

 

“We’re not using this as a first resort,” he added. “We’re using this as a last resort to get people some help.”

The ordinance would classify the offense as “minor,” subject to a maximum fine of $2,650, in addition to costs, damages and expenses. 

“We’ve only had three incidents that we’re aware of since February of this year, so it’s definitely not a huge issue at this time,” Allison Wittern, communications director for the south suburban Denver city of 110,800, told Colorado Politics last month.

“We’re trying to be proactive because it is a hot topic right now in the metro area,” Wittern said.

In nearby Denver, Initiative 300, a ballot measure to allow camping on public property across Denver, was defeated in the city’s May 7 election.

The measure would have repealed an urban camping ban that the Denver City Council adopted in 2012 in response to Occupy Denver’s encampment in Civic Center.

Nearby Boulder and Parker also have urban camping bans in place.

Wittern said the city of Centennial had nothing in place when it came to allowing law enforcement to deal with camping on public property.

“We want to … give our sheriff’s office the opportunity to enforce, if necessary, but only on city-owned property,” she said.

Erin Prater of Colorado Politics contributed.

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