Fallout continues from the woman served with a trespassing notice after staying at Quincy City Hall entrance
QUINCY– A new city ordinance aimed at stopping homeless people from camping overnight in public spaces has been released ahead of Monday night’s city council meeting.
It is seven pages long and cites various explanations for why such a city code would not be a violation of state law. Namely, the Bill of Rights- the Homeless Act, which prohibits ordinances that impose fines or criminal penalties against people experiencing unsheltered homelessness for occupying or engaging in life-sustaining activities on public property.
Provisions of the city ordinance include that public camping is a nuisance, presents a public health concern and that the City of Quincy declared that none of its property is permitted or intended to be used for public camping.
The ordinance requires the city to post notice 24 hours in advance before removing camping items.
The proper law enforcement agency would store the items for 30 days. A person could recover the items with proof of ownership.
Three readings are required before a vote by the full city council.
The ordinance comes after weeks of debate over a woman who had been sleeping in front of City Hall and storing her belongings at the entrance for more than a month and the recent attack on a library worker who got into an altercation with a man who had been sleeping in a vehicle with a woman in the upper parking lot of the Quincy Public Library.
The full ordinance is contained in the PDF attached below: