Jurupa Valley Council Votes In Favor Of Ordinance Prohibiting Camping

The Jurupa Valley City Council last week voted in favor of an ordinance prohibiting camping and the storage of personal property on public property.

“Over the last four years, the city of Jurupa Valley code enforcement staff, along with Riverside County [sheriff deputies] and Path of Life, have worked hard to clean up dangerous and unhealthful encampments in the city,” Peter Thorson, city attorney, said at the Aug. 15 meeting. “The encampments create problems because of accumulations of trash and garbage, unsanitary deposits of urine and feces, no sanitation systems, infestation of rodents and loose animals, unsafe tents, lean-tos and tarps, inoperable RVs and open fires.”

The ordinance prohibits camping on any public or private property, with few exceptions. Any person found to be violating the ban runs the risk of an administrative citation or being charged with a misdemeanor.

“I do want to point out that in the process of cleaning up the encampments, the city has adopted an ordinance and administrative processes that are very sensitive to the people who are there,” Thorson said. “There is a process of outreach, there is a process of notification of when it’s going to be cleaned up, and then there are very explicit guidelines to enable the staff and the contractors to make sure that any personal property is carefully accounted for and kept for a period of 90 days.”

Last month, Hemet and Indio adopted similar ordinances following the Supreme Court decision in the Grants Pass v. Johnson case. Both cities were very clear that the ordinances were not meant to criminalize homelessness, but rather to allow law enforcement to take action when necessary without first needing to ensure there was a shelter bed available.

“This is not the creation of an anti-homeless ordinance,” Hemet City Attorney Steven Graham said. “Homelessness is not a status that we criminalize, however, the parks of the city are funded by all this should be available to everyone to use and enjoy.”

Palm Springs also adopted an ordinance in the wake of the Supreme Court decision, but took a slightly different approach by creating two different categories of public property: one where camping is always prohibited and one where camping is only prohibited when there is adequate shelter space.

“What we believe is that this ordinance will allow us the strength to be able to talk with people and help them to understand that there is no other option than them seeking help in the city,” Palm Springs Police Chief Andrew Mills said.

However, Kath Rogers, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Southern California, previously told The Riverside Record, that even if the intent isn’t to criminalize homelessness, that’s what will happen once these ordinances go into effect.

“Banning conduct like sitting down, laying down, sleeping outside, really only affects unhoused people,” she said. “So, in effect, the impact on people is the same as it is if the municipalities were actually banning, you know, being unhoused.”

The Jurupa Valley ordinance is set to come back before the council for final approval at the council’s regularly scheduled Sept. 5 meeting.

A full recording of the meeting can be found here on the city’s website.