The Bend City Council approved Title 4, or the new camping code, with four out of the seven councilors supporting it Wednesday night.
The new Bend code bans unhoused people from camping in residential areas, city property and public rights-of-way. These include, but are not limited to, sidewalks, roads and roundabouts.
Homeless campers will be unable to stay in one spot for more than 24 hours and will be given 72 hours, once they have received notice, to move.
Enforcement is not expected to begin before, March 1, 2023.
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Councilor and Mayor-Elect Melanie Kebler was one of the councilors who said ‘yay,’ and acknowledged that the code may need to adapt as it is enforced.
“It’s important to see how this works and adjust in the future, and I am committed to doing that. I anticipate there will need to be changes,” said Kebler.
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Mayor Gena Goodman-Campbell, Councilor Barb Campbell and Councilor Mo Mitchell said ‘nay.’
Mitchell citing the code’s enforcement section as being one of their reasons for voting against it.
“My concern is that its going to result in a lot of police involvement to those who are most vulnerable and the fact is that police are not trained in way to understand these complexities,” said MItchell.
Title 4 does not provide an explanation for who will enforce the new rules.
Under Oregon law ORS 195.500, cities and counties are required to have a policy for the removal of camp sites on public property.
