JOHN DAY — The city of John Day has a camping ordinance— and the means to enforce it.

The John Day City Council at its meeting Feb. 11 adopted a camping ordinance after failing to adopt the ordinance in January. The council passed the new local law by title only on a 7-0 vote.

An intergovernmental agreement between John Day and the Grant County Sheriff’s Office gives the city the necessary tools for enforcement of the ordinance.

The ordinance

The city’s camping ordinance outlines the time, manner and place in which unhoused or homeless residents can sit, lie, sleep and keep warm or dry on public property.

The ordinance prohibits camping on all city property with the exception of the gravel lot adjacent to city hall. The site is uninhabited but has long been the de facto location of the city’s homeless camp.

The ordinance authorizes the city to modify or change the camp location at any time via council resolution and allows the city manager to allow camping due to an emergency, The city will post notice of changes at city hall and any permissible camping location or locations existing at the time of modification.

Camping at the site is prohibited from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Campers must remove all camp facilities and paraphernalia from the site during those hours. Campers a;sp are required to keep their facilities and camp paraphernalia to a spatial footprint of no more than 150 square feet.

Campers may not accumulate, discard or leave behind garbage, debris, fecal matter, unsanitary or hazardous materials or other items of no apparent use in a right of way, on city property and/or on any adjacent public property.

The ordinance prohibits open flames, recreational fires, bonfires, burning of garbage and other flames or heating the fire department deems unsafe at the campsite. The ordinance allows some cooking stoves and other means of keeping warm with the permission of the fire department.

The ordinance prohibits the dumping of gray water (wastewater from sinks and baths), or black water (sewage) into storm drains and prohibits unauthorized connections or taps to electrical or other utilities are also prohibited according to the ordinance.

The city can remove camps that violate the ordinance or if enforcement personnel determine a campsite endangers the public’s health and safety

A 72-hour notice is required for removal of people or their property from established campsites. The city will post notices in English and in Spanish at all entrances to campsites.

The notice must state where unclaimed property will be stored, a phone number individuals can call to find where the property is or the address and phone number of an agency that will have information in the event a permanent storage location has not yet been determined.

There are specific cases where the 72-hour notice doesn’t apply, such as if law enforcement believes illegal activities other than camping are occurring at the site. A public health emergency, possible campsite contamination with hazardous materials or other immediate danger to human life and safety also supersede the 72-hour notice requirement.

The city must store unclaimed property left at the camping site for a minimum of 30 days so the owner can claim it.

Any person found in violation of the city’s camping ordinance will be fined no more than $35 for their first offense. A second violation of the ordinance within a 180 day period will result in a fine of no more than $150.

Each violation of the ordinance will result in a separate fine. Each 48 hour period in which the violation persists after the initial citation will result in a separate violation.

The new local law also encourages the courts to order participation in drug and alcohol treatment programs, employment assistance, emergency housing and other services in lieu of imposing a fine or imposing the maximum fine amount.

City Manager reacts

The passage of the camping ordinance coupled with the IGA with the sheriff’s office means the abandoned tent and motorhome at the campsite can be removed.

With the time, place and manner restrictions, the campsite will not be inhabited throughout the day as it had been prior to the passage of the ordinance.

John Day City Manager Melissa Bethel said the IGA and ordinance are a boon for John Day.

“It’s great that we have the ordinance and the IGA with the sheriff,” she said. “Now we have a way to enforce the ordinance, that’s a win-win.”