A Ban On Public Camping Would Return Under A Proposal Up This Week At Austin City Council.
The Austin City Council discussed reinstating bans on camping and resting in public Tuesday ahead of a vote at its Thursday meeting. The deliberation comes as the city faces the threat of state intervention from Gov. Greg Abbott and withering criticism on social media from opponents of rules it adopted this summer, rolling back restrictions on camping, sitting and lying down in public.
City Council members talked about a proposal from Council members Ann Kitchen, Kathie Tovo, Alison Alter and Leslie Pool that could reinstate camping restrictions on specific streets.
Early on in the discussion, Mayor Steve Adler committed to passing an ordinance, along with two resolutions that would instruct the city manager to research how to make camping safer by (possibly) limiting certain structures and study possibilities for short-term shelter space.
"What the community really wants from us now is to provide clarification to the ordinance," he said.
Read more: https://www.kut.org/post/ban-public-camping-would-return-under-proposal-week-austin-city-council