The City of Santa Cruz discusses new city ordinance to address homelessness
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION) The city of Santa Cruz discussed a new ordinance to address the issues of homelessness and encampments in the city.
City leaders have expressed the need to take action to improve the overall standard of living.
Although the city only hold less than 24% of the population, it has 55% of the county's homeless population.
In the ordinance, the city is trying to discourage homeless encampments by putting curfews on when people can sleep in tents and restricting the amount of people within an area. The President of the Santa Cruz Homeless Union, Alicia Kuhl, feels that this is simply a camping ban.
"It appears to be a camping ban to circumvent and go against the spirit of Martin vs. Boise and also the CDC guidelines regarding homeless encampments and essentially we have a lot of concerns," says Kuhl.
While the ordinance does ban homeless individuals from camping in places like neighborhood and community parks, most open spaces, parking lots, and city-owned beaches and oceanfront areas, the ordinance does allow for individuals to stay on sidewalks, as long as they camp overnight from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.
Lee Butler, the Director of Planning and Community Development says, "There are a range of restrictions regarding the prohibitions on blocking areas that would provide access to first responders or access to city equipment. There are prohibitions in camping in areas where it would represent a danger to the occupants."
The city does acknowledge that this plan won't stop homelessness in Santa Cruz but believe it is a crucial first step. However, Kuhl feels that without the input from the homeless population, the plan simply won't work.
"Until homeless individuals are invited to the table to discuss these issues, I don't feel like we're going to come up with a viable solution," says Kuhl.
Coming up on 5 and 6 p.m., KION's Stephanie Aceves has more with how local homeless advocates are feeling about the ordinance.
