Aurora councilmembers on Monday delayed a vote on the proposed “tough love” approach to homelessness, which would bring tougher penalties for violations of the camping ban along the I-225 corridor and create a new court for low-level offenses by homeless people.

Councilmembers at Monday night’s regular City Council meeting said they delayed the vote because several councilmembers were absent and they wanted everyone to be able to give input and vote on the matters.

Aurora’s next council meeting is on Monday, June 10, when the proposals will come back for an official vote. 

The approach includes two new proposals from Mayor Mike Coffman, Councilmember Steve Sundberg and Councilmember Curtis Gardner.

The first of the two proposals puts “the entire I-225 corridor under a new trespass ordinance,” in which individuals are ticketed and given a date to appear in court. The second measure creates a new specialized court to deal with low-level offenses by homeless people, such as violating the trespass ordinance, illegal drug possession or retail theft.

Both proposals moved from a study session in early May with unanimous support from council, with sponsors clarifying that the approach is a pilot program, not a permanent one yet. 

Sundberg said in the study session that, currently, the homeless situation along the I-225 corridor is a public health and safety issue, presenting threats, such as fire danger and unsafe walking conditions.

“We really want people to be helped, recover and get well,” Sundberg said. “We don’t want to be punitive, we want to be supportive in this court system.”

Specifically, the camping ordinance enhances laws against urban camping in the city, adding areas that are “Closed to Camping” to the city code, according to council documents.

In “Closed to Camping” areas, unauthorized camps can be immediately cleared without prior notice.

Sundberg presented a sign during the study session that would be put up in the camping ban areas, which reads, “This site has been identified as an area with health and/or public safety concerns where the city of Aurora has determined that camping is not permitted.”

It states that the city will abate camps on a periodic basis with no other notice.

Currently, people camping along the interstate are given a 72-hour notice to move and, if they do so, they are not penalized — even if they set up tents in another unauthorized location.

The new proposal takes away the 72-hour notice and results in immediate tickets to individuals, making them subject to arrest if they don’t appear for their court dates, Coffman said.

Coffman said the area can be expanded, but with current resources, they want to address the I-225 corridor first.

The ordinance states that if someone is offered a shelter option and refuses and also refuses or fails to move from the camp “immediately after being ordered” they will be issued a citation and are subject to arrest. 

“This is a tough love approach,” Coffman said during the study session. “We currently have outreach teams that go out every single week and offer services and we get very few takers, so this makes it in this area, which I believe in the center of gravity for unsheltered homelessness, to where it’s no longer a choice.”

The second piece of the new approach is a resolution, sponsored by Gardner, that establishes what council documents call the Aurora HEART — short for Housing, Employment, Assistance, Recovery, Team program in Aurora Municipal Court.

Homeless people who have been charged with trespassing or “similar non-domestic violence low level non-violent municipal ordinance offenses” will be eligible to participate in the court system, where they will be offered services and can use them in exchange for closure of the case, according to council documents.

The twin proposals would further affirm Aurora’s preferred approach to curbing its homelessness problem — by giving individuals the opportunity to accept services, including treatment, on the one hand, and by adopting, on the other hand, a policy akin to zero tolerance for homeless people who refuse help.

Also on Monday night, the council voted 5-2 to remove the “sunset provision” on a law requiring mandatory minimum jail sentences for car theft and failure to appear.

The two ‘no’ votes came from Councilmembers Alison Coombs and Crystal Murillo.

The original ordinance putting the mandatory minimum sentences in place was approved by the city council in July of 2022.

Since the program was new, the council added a “sunset provision” to it, essentially making it more of a pilot program that would expire in 2024 unless the council voted to extend it.

In Monday’s meeting, the council voted to pass the ordinance getting rid of the provision, making the mandatory minimum sentences permanent law.