Avon reexamines rules surrounding homelessness for first time in 45 years
Town's evaluation follows U.S. Supreme Court decision enabling municipalities to instate camping bans regardless of alternative housing options
Zoe Goldstein/Vail Daily
Avon is taking a look at its codes on homelessness in the town, which have not seen an update since 1979.
Avon Town Attorney Nina Williams presented on the topic during the Tuesday, Aug. 27 Town 撸先生 meeting. While the codes is written to be directed toward anyone camping in town, they might most often be applied to those living in the town unhoused, or without a permanent shelter.
Why revise the code?
The code was brought before council for several reasons.
On June 28, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in City of Grants Pass, Or. v. Johnson et al. that municipalities can charge those sleeping in public places with a criminal offense, regardless of the availability of housing options. Prior to the decision, municipalities could only implement camping bans in places where there were available housing alternatives, such as homeless shelters.
The Supreme Court decision has “made it a hot topic in every municipality in the nation,” said Tamra Underwood, Avon mayor pro tem.
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The town’s police department also encounters people living in the town without a home “from time to time,” said Eric Heil, Avon town manager. “And we, because of past laws, we’ve had language on our books for a long time that has probably made it more open than is desired.”
Following the Supreme Court decision, Erica Romberg, a senior associate attorney in Williams’ firm who serves as the firm’s police legal adviser to Avon and other clients, connected with Greg Daly, Avon’s police chief.
“In speaking with your police chief, it came to light that your code has remained unchanged since 1979 as it relates to camping, and it’s a little contradictory or conflicting in terms,” Williams said.
In Avon’s current code, there are contradicting clauses, one that seems to prohibit camping entirely and one that permits camping for two nights at a time.
The first, entitled “camping in public ways,” says that “it is unlawful for any person to sleep, spend the night, cook or establish a place of abode in any vehicle, trailer or camper on any public street, way, sidewalk or place within the town.”
This section does not have a time limit, and prohibits camping outright.
The following section, “camping restricted,” states that “it is unlawful for any person to reside temporarily on any parcel in the town not specifically designated therefore, for a period longer than two (2) nights in any tent, shelter, mobile home, recreational vehicle, trailer or any other temporary or movable shelter that has not been permanently attached to the land and/or received appropriate approvals from the town.”
In other words, the second section seems to permit camping in town for two nights. Though it may be intended to apply to camping on private property, that is not how the code reads.
“So it’s confusing. It creates enforcement issues. There’s overlap,” Williams said. “It’s impossible to move an unwanted camper who is staying in the community for a long time in parks and public locations, because they could just move their tent every two days.”
Taking a compassionate approach to addressing homelessness in Avon
Williams asked the council for direction on how to adjust the code, and provided the council with examples from other towns of potential replacement rules Avon could enact.
“There are definitely differing tones,” within the examples, Underwood said. One of the codes that looked promising, in Lafayette, took a dual approach to homelessness that defined camping as “unlawful and constitute a nuisance.” Because a municipality can abate, or eliminate, a nuisance, the nuisance approach can give the town government the ability to handle the problem without the matter going to court.
Underwood asked whether “nuisance” offenses are criminal in Avon.
In Avon, “public nuisances are treated as a criminal offense of the lowest nature, akin to a misdemeanor, and right now the penalty is that of a general offense, which can carry a prison term of up to six months,” and a fine of up to $2,600, said Miguel Jauregui Casanueva, town clerk and supervisor of the courts. The prison term “has never been used to my knowledge in Avon,” he said.
The process “traditionally would look as an escalating fine for repeat offenses,” Jauregui Casanueva said, though “our municipal judge would have to follow his sentencing guidelines in deciding what repeat behavior would look like.”
Multiple Town 撸先生 members, along with town staff, spoke in favor of taking a compassionate approach to rewriting the code.
“We’re not looking to start imprisoning homeless people,” Heil said. “But it would be nice to have laws that fit where is not appropriate.”
Referring to the second section, which may be intended to support those who wish to camp temporarily in their own backyard, Phillips said the policy needs to be rewritten to clarify its exact intended application.
“And it needs to be clear that it has the permission of the property owner 鈥� which it currently doesn’t,” Williams said.
“I think it’s also important to think about and mention that people don’t choose to be homeless,” said Chico Thuon, council member.
Thuon encouraged town staff to take a solution-oriented approach when drafting the code revisions. “That’s where the focus should actually be. Not just sorting the code out, but what do we do when someone becomes homeless?” he said.
“I think we’re extremely sophisticated, extremely professional, extremely compassionate,” when dealing with unhoused people, Heil said. “You don’t see it 鈥� chief (Greg Daly) updates me 鈥� but they are front line working with all types of situations and we’re not well-equipped to provide services and help, but our police department is very, very hooked into the resources both with Eagle County and some of the nonprofits and we do everything we can to connect those people to the resources that can help them, so I think we do an amazing job of taking care of people when they need it and they’re here in town.”
Underwood urged town staff to use language in the update that has “a very compassionate tone.”
Concrete language for the proposed town code revision to take a more consistent legal stance on camping in Avon will return at a future council meeting.
