Altamonte Springs moves to ban overnight camping as region’s homeless numbers swell
Struggling to handle a homeless man who often sets up bedding, grills and gym equipment on sidewalks in town, Altamonte Springs is moving toward prohibiting overnight camping on public property, such as a sidewalk or government parking lot.
But the proposed ordinance has thrust the Seminole County city into the midst of a nationwide dispute over how municipalities balance the safety of the general public with protecting the rights of society’s poorest individuals.
Because of a recent federal appeals court ruling, Altamonte Springs — like many other cities, including a large number on the West Coast — would not enforce the camping ban if the area’s homeless shelters are full for the night.
City Manager Frank Martz said the proposed ordinance, which is scheduled to be voted on by city commissioners Jan. 2, was sparked because that homeless man was frustrating city officials and harassing motorists at stoplights along busy state roads 436 and 434.
“He has repeatedly refused any assistance at all despite that there was room at the Rescue Outreach Mission” in Sanford, said Martz, referring to the county’s only homeless shelter roughly 12 miles away from his city. Officers even offered to provide him transportation to the shelter.
The proposed ban’s exception meets a 2018 ruling by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that people without permanent housing can’t be punished for spending the night on public property if there are no adequate shelters available nearby. The ninth circuit court, located in the Western United States, is widely considered the country’s most liberal federal panel.
In the Martin v. City of Boise case, the court basically said that no-camping laws would likely violate the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment.
In their decision, justices reiterated that local governments could continue to “limit camping or sleeping at certain times and in certain places.” But if there is no space left at a shelter or other facility, then law enforcement could not clear homeless camps.
The federal court ruling stunned local governments, frustrated with how to tackle growing homeless populations and encampments near burgeoning overnight shelters. The issue is expected to land at the U.S. Supreme Court, but in the meantime cities and counties around the country are grappling with whether to follow the court’s guidance or defy it in a time of rising homelessness.
The Orlando region, for example, has seen a 75% jump in homelessness over the past four years, primarily because of soaring rent and housing costs.
According to a regional survey this year mandated by the federal government, 587 unsheltered people were found in Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties. And regional officials estimate that between 200 and 225 people sleep on the streets of Orlando every night.
Orlando is grappling with the dilemma in its own way. This week, Orlando commissioners unanimously advanced a change to its disorderly conduct ordinance, which penalizes somebody who “walks, stands, sits, lies or places an object in such manner to intentionally block passage” on a sidewalk.
In an unsigned statement, Orlando Police Department said it allows officers to address a variety of situations, such as “anyone who tries to block pedestrian movement on our sidewalks, regardless if it is for the purpose of solicitation of donations, distribution of materials, marketing, signature collection, expression of viewpoints, threatening to fight or any other purpose, anywhere in the City, and regardless of who commits the act.”
“The proposed ordinance should not disproportionately affect anyone, including our unsheltered population, as it is aimed at illegal activity,” OPD said in the statement.
Violators can be punished by a fine of up to $500, up to 60 days in jail or six months of probation.
The ordinance must be voted on a second time before it can be enacted. A second vote is scheduled for Jan. 8.
In downtown Orlando, until recently, scores of homeless individuals and families pitched tents and cooked on grills along Grove Park Drive, a brick street roughly 700 feet long, tucked amid the U.S. Federal Courthouse, the Coalition for the Homeless and Exploria Stadium.
Authorities shooed out the encampments last year and set up fences to close off the street. The closure was not tied to any court ruling, “but simply done to secure” the surrounding area, according to city officials.
“Orlando officers offer individuals space in a shelter before any enforcement is considered,” said Ashley Papagni, a city spokesperson, in an email to the Sentinel. “If shelter space is not available to the individual, then enforcement action is not taken. This practice is compliant with the Eighth Amendment, as discussed in Martin v. City of Boise.”
In Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties, there are just over 1,000 spaces for homeless individuals and families to spend the night within the four emergency shelters (three in Orlando and one in Sanford) in the area. And those beds fill up quickly every night, said Eric Gray, executive director of the Christian Service Center for Central Florida, which is in Orlando’s Parramore neighborhood.
However, scores of individuals and families without housing have little to choice other than spending their nights living in their cars, according to local officials and advocates for the homeless. A recent survey found that roughly 100 public school students in Seminole County are homeless and many are living in vehicles.
“The lack of overnight shelter is a major issue for every single government in the United States because of this federal precedent that has been set,” Gray said, referring to the court ruling. “The challenge that Altamonte [Springs] is going to have — and every municipality not in Orlando is going to have — is that they do not have a shelter. … I believe that every municipality in the country is going to have to find some way to build or contribute to building some sort of shelter. It’s going to have to be addressed.”
Compared to larger, nearby municipalities, Altamonte Springs does not have a significant number of homeless individuals living outdoors, city officials said. Still, officers will refer them to shelters in downtown Orlando — including the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida, the Salvation Army and the Orlando Union Rescue Mission — or the Rescue Outreach Mission of Central Florida, on Historic Goldsboro Boulevard, in Sanford.
The facility in Sanford can accommodate just over 100 individuals on any night. The average stay is about 55 days. Last week 38 men, 21 women and 12 families were residing at the shelter.
The ban on camping overnight in Altamonte Springs would include recreational vehicles, cars and trucks.
At the Dec. 5 city commission meeting, no one from the public or commission spoke before it was given a preliminary approval unanimously.
Martz noted that the rising rate of homelessness is “a national issue” that will grow worse if there is a downturn in the economy.
He added that his city’s police officers are aware of the ordinance and often work with individuals who are homeless to find them a place.
“Many of these cases are heartbreaking,” Martz said. “But we’re trying to take care of everyone.”
Ryan Gillespie of the Sentinel staff contributed.
