Expanding Criminalization of Reno Homelessness Back on City Council Agenda
A recap of our recent reporting plus bonus content.
A file photo of an elderly man sleeping in the sun on a cold winter day from earlier this year in top left, while a woman packs up her belongings after sleeping in front of a storefront in downtown Reno in bottom right.
Expanding the criminalization of homelessness with misdemeanors is back on the Reno City Council’s agenda for Wednesday with items E1, E2, E3 and E4 up for discussion to widen prohibitions against sitting, lying, sleeping, loitering and camping in public spaces and on any city public grounds, including the Truckee River corridor, doorways, sidewalks and near shelters, hospitals, schools or libraries.
A staff report from Deputy City Attorney Brian Sooudi states that this would consolidate current Reno Municipal Code to support “public safety priorities,” providing “a tool to mitigate unlawful activities while protecting community welfare.”
The memo indicates cities across the country have updated their ordinances since the Grants Pass June Supreme Court decision, allowing local governments to criminalize public camping and sleeping whether or not there is adequate nearby shelter space available.
Sooudi’s memo points in particular to Fresno and communities with river districts, which have concise definitions of camping.
It says the current Reno code only currently applies no camping to the Truckee corridor and parks, whereas Fresno’s anti camping law is now city wide.
It also says Reno “does not have an adequate law besides nuisance to address vehicles being parked and stored on City property for camping purposes.”
In terms of camping, the proposed new definition includes storing belongings, making a fire, cooking, and “doing any digging or earth breaking on a public places (sic).”
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