Lawmakers advance bill forcing counties to crack down on illegal homeless camps

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — As cities and counties across the state try to deal with homelessness, Florida lawmakers are eyeing a new plan that some worry could make a difficult problem even worse.

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Senate Bill 1530 cracks down on people camping and sleeping in public places.

While public camping is already illegal in most Florida counties, the bill bans counties from “authorizing or permitting” illegal camping.

Instead, local governments could create specific areas with security and social services for those living on the streets. Those designated camping areas must meet certain sanitation and safety requirements.

However, they cannot be in a location that impacts the value of nearby property.

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The bill also allows residents to sue counties that violate the law by allowing people to sleep on public property.

“We need solutions. We need more funding, we need more affordable homes, we don’t need more laws that are basically going to end up with cities suing cities over this issue,” said Eric Gray, the Executive Director of the Christian Service Center which provides services to the homeless.

Gray believes the bill criminalizes homelessness and ties the hands of local governments on an already difficult issue.

Meanwhile, the bills’ senate sponsor Jonathan Martin told fellow lawmakers Monday he believes the bill would provide a framework and centralized location for social services in a community.

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“The goal here is to provide those people a place to live,” said Martin during a committee meeting, “Instead of criminalizing the homeless, this bill authorizes individuals and businesses to seek action against cities or counties that don’t follow law.”

While the bill allows for county-designated camping space, Gray does not believe those sanctioned camps will likely be established.

He also points to a social service system that is already severely lacking in shelter capacity, explaining that there are approximately 900 beds for the homeless in the Orlando area and many more individuals in need.

“What they’re doing is they’re ignoring the reality that people have nowhere to go, there’s not enough shelter beds,” said Gray. What’s gonna end up happening is you’re playing a game of Whack a Mole, where you’re pushing people from one community to the next.”

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Other advocates believe the bill could perpetuate a dangerous cycle.

“Here’s the sad news for a mayor or a county leader somewhere in the state of Florida that thinks they can arrest their way out of homelessness. It’s just not possible,” said Andrae Bailey, the founder of Florida-based nonprofit Rethinking Homelessness.

Bailey believes the bill could be used for both good and bad depending on local enforcement.

“Put into the wrong hands, it empowers cities and the county and their law enforcement to just sweep homeless people off the street. The other side is if we do nothing were going to look like Los Angeles,” Bailey said.

The bill passed out of the community affairs committee yesterday and is now advancing to the judiciary committee.

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