Santa Ana ordinance would ban camping in tents in public spaces; vote set for Tuesday
SANTA ANA, Calif. (KABC) -- The Santa Ana City Council is set to vote Tuesday on a proposed ordinance that would ban camping or storing personal belongings in public spaces.
The proposed ordinance would make it illegal to sleep in a tent or vehicle, while also prohibiting the use of camping supplies in parking lots or plazas.
Mayor Valerie Amezcua, who was reelected earlier this month, has called for the city to take stronger action to address its homelessness issue.
"Addressing homelessness and the quality of life has always been my priority as mayor... we cannot continue to turn a blind eye and we must not make excuses," Amezcua said in a statement.
Several cities across Orange County have already cracked down on encampments after passing their own laws, including Newport Beach's swift clean-up effort in October.
In late June, the Supreme Court cleared the way for cities to enforce bans on homeless people sleeping outside in public places, overturning a ruling from a California-based appeals court that found such laws amount to cruel and unusual punishment when shelter space is lacking.
The case was the high court's most significant ruling on the issue in decades and came as a rising number of people in the U.S. were without a permanent place to live.
Western cities had argued that the ruling made it harder to manage outdoor encampments in public spaces, but homeless advocates said punishing people who need a place to sleep would criminalize homelessness.
