The Grants Pass City Council is preparing to consider an ordinance that amends the municipal code regarding resting in public spaces.
During Monday's workshop session, Grants Pass City Attorney Stephanie Nutall briefed the Council on the changes that would go into effect once the preliminary injunction is lifted to allow the enforcement of restrictions on resting sites.
Nutall reminded the City Council that on April 16th they established four resting locations that will accommodate more than 150 resting sites with many of them ADA-compliant as directed by Josephine County Circuit Judge Sarah McGlaughlin. The attorneys representing the City in the Disability Rights Oregon lawsuit plan to ask the judge to lift the injunction as soon as possible.
According to Nutall, the ordinance would declare an emergency and consolidate restrictions that would prohibit resting overnight in all city parks. The ordinance would also strengthen restrictions within the designated resting sites, limiting the sites to an 8-foot-by-8-foot spatial footprint and reducing the buffer between the sites from six feet to three feet. The unhoused population resting in the existing sites would be required to move every four days, with a 72-hour notice in effect.
Nutall added that people found resting in city parks could be removed immediately and they would not be allowed to hang items such as clothing on city property. She said most of the changes in the new ordinance are based on what is considered to be "objectively reasonable" under state law.
The City Council will consider the ordinance on Wednesday night and if it is approved unanimously, the emergency declaration will go into effect as soon as the preliminary injunction is lifted.
