MORGANTOWN, W.V. In Morgantown, elected leaders and the city administration are preparing for the enactment of the ban on camping in public areas.
On MetroNews “Talkline,” Deputy Mayor Jenny Selin said the newly passed measure is an expansion of an existing ordinance enforced in city parks and on and around the rail-trail system.
“We already had a ban on camping in parks, so that included the trail and a lot of other public property,” Selin said. “But this is another tool to get people into housing where they belong.”
Selin said the measure does not criminalize homelessness but rather addresses some issues that can arise when large groups of people camp in unimproved areas without sanitation facilities. The potential danger from waste extends well beyond the camp and into nearby neighborhood areas where residents could be impacted.
“The health department would not allow people to live the way people are living when they are houseless and essentially living in the bushes along the trail or on other pieces of public property,” Selin said.
The ordinance does not include incarceration as an option until the third offense within 12 months. Selin noted that at each step along those three violations, police are able to use judgment in making and arresting, but must always work to connect those in violation of the ordinance with available services.
“We don’t have a history of incarcerating people for this type of thing,” Selin said. “We are working hard to get people to accept the plentiful help we have here, and where we have gaps (in services), we need to develop more,” Selin said.
The ordinance goes into effect on Oct. 3, and Selin said the city has a lot of work to do. First, restarting the triage shelter at Hazel’s House of Hope by Catholic Charities to add about 25 beds to the capacity. Next, developing proposals for affordable or tiny homes, possibly on the grounds of Hazel’s House of Hope and managed by a third party.
“If we have a housing first model in Morgantown, which we aspire to, we need to get people into housing, and we need to make sure this does not take effect until Catholic Charities is reopening our homeless shelter,” Selin said.
Despite the tone of public comment Tuesday, Selin said members of council are engaged, aware, and are searching for solutions. Their engagement has not been part-time or just in the last several months, and she said each counselor has their own individual approach to responding to their constituents.
“We’ve looked at and will continue to look at this issue because we all have empathy and concern,” Selin said. “But we also have regard for our downtown, our trails, and public properties and making them available for use by everyone—houseless or not.”