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A new ban on camping along the American River Parkway in Sacramento County is set to take effect next month.Fire danger and public health hazards are among the concerns cited for the newly adopted ordinance, but it was met with some resistance.| Related | Officials: Multiple fires across Sacramento related to homeless encampments”This is doomed to fail,” said Bob Erlenbusch, executive director of the Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness.He urged county supervisors against approving the camping ban.”I asked them specifically, you know, ‘Where are the services? Where’s the housing?’ In other words, where are these people supposed to go? Didn’t get any answer from them. They passed an ordinance that continues to criminalize people, and it’s ultimately counterproductive,” Erlenbusch said.However, the county said the implementation of the new ordinance would be slow and strategic. “I would say the public can expect there won’t be any just widescale sweeps,” said Deputy County Executive for Public Safety and Justice Eric Jones. He said one reason is just because of the capacity of park rangers compared to the sheer volume of camps that exist along the parkway. Rangers estimate there are between 1,000-1,500 people camping there.In addition, Jones said, the goal is to make sure that people being moved have somewhere else to go.”We understand there are not enough beds and shelters and housing,” he explained. “So, that is why there will be a very strategic and smaller approach to the highest fire hazards, public health hazards, just those locations of the parkway that need to be addressed first.”A violation would be a misdemeanor, but he said a citation or an arrest will be rare.”This is a tool just if we get to that point where an individual absolutely refuses to relocate or go to another location, this gives a tool to use as a last resort,” Jones said.However, Erlenbusch questioned that idea.”Once you pass this ordinance, it gives the law enforcement, mainly the park rangers, a full blank check to move people off the American River Parkway. You can’t be here, can’t construct anything. Can’t be here between sunrise and sunset. That’s it. That’s now the law,” he said. “So, if they didn’t mean why pass it?”The county said when it identifies an area it does plan to clear out, people will be given at least two days of advanced notice and then another warning before the actual cleanup takes place. | Video Below | Gov. Newsom announces funding for more statewide sheltersMeanwhile, Gov. Gavin Newsom was in Los Angeles on Wednesday to announce funding for another 2,500 housing units statewide to shelter the unhoused. The governor said it will cost $694 million to provide the new housing units.
A new ban on camping along the American River Parkway in Sacramento County is set to take effect next month.
Fire danger and public health hazards are among the concerns cited for the newly adopted ordinance, but it was met with some resistance.
| Related | Officials: Multiple fires across Sacramento related to homeless encampments
“This is doomed to fail,” said Bob Erlenbusch, executive director of the Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness.
He urged county supervisors against approving the camping ban.
“I asked them specifically, you know, ‘Where are the services? Where’s the housing?’ In other words, where are these people supposed to go? Didn’t get any answer from them. They passed an ordinance that continues to criminalize people, and it’s ultimately counterproductive,” Erlenbusch said.
However, the county said the implementation of the new ordinance would be slow and strategic.
“I would say the public can expect there won’t be any just widescale sweeps,” said Deputy County Executive for Public Safety and Justice Eric Jones.
He said one reason is just because of the capacity of park rangers compared to the sheer volume of camps that exist along the parkway. Rangers estimate there are between 1,000-1,500 people camping there.
In addition, Jones said, the goal is to make sure that people being moved have somewhere else to go.
“We understand there are not enough beds and shelters and housing,” he explained. “So, that is why there will be a very strategic and smaller approach to the highest fire hazards, public health hazards, just those locations of the parkway that need to be addressed first.”
A violation would be a misdemeanor, but he said a citation or an arrest will be rare.
“This is a tool just if we get to that point where an individual absolutely refuses to relocate or go to another location, this gives a tool to use as a last resort,” Jones said.
However, Erlenbusch questioned that idea.
“Once you pass this ordinance, it gives the law enforcement, mainly the park rangers, a full blank check to move people off the American River Parkway. You can’t be here, can’t construct anything. Can’t be here between sunrise and sunset. That’s it. That’s now the law,” he said. “So, if they didn’t mean why pass it?”
The county said when it identifies an area it does plan to clear out, people will be given at least two days of advanced notice and then another warning before the actual cleanup takes place.
| Video Below | Gov. Newsom announces funding for more statewide shelters
Meanwhile, Gov. Gavin Newsom was in Los Angeles on Wednesday to announce funding for another 2,500 housing units statewide to shelter the unhoused. The governor said it will cost $694 million to provide the new housing units.
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