Palmer City Council postpones vote on public camping ban

What you need to know:

• The Palmer City Council this week postponed a vote on a proposal to ban sleeping on city streets and impose fines of up to $300. The delay is intended to give newly elected council members time to review the issue.
• The proposal is aimed at addressing conduct, not criminalizing homelessness, officials said. Some residents who spoke at the meeting said the ban is necessary, while others expressed concern that it could lead to criminal charges against people experiencing homelessness. There are no homeless shelters in Mat-Su.
• The measures are scheduled for consideration at the council’s regular meeting on Oct. 28.

• Short on time but need the local news scoop? Get free weekly news in your inbox for Mat-Su, from Mat-Su.

PALMER – The Palmer City Council has postponed a vote on a pair of measures that would ban sleeping on city streets and levy fines for violations.

The votes are delayed until a meeting scheduled for Oct. 28 to give the council’s three newly elected members time to learn more about the issue, Mayor Jim Cooper said during the regular council meeting Tuesday.

The meeting was the first for City Council members Sherry Carrington, Alison Collins, and Amanda Graham, who were sworn in Monday following certification of the Oct. 7 city election. Cooper, who vacated a council seat to become mayor, was also sworn in Monday.

As proposed, the public camping ban would prohibit individuals from sleeping on city sidewalks, alleyways, or other public property outside designated campgrounds. Council member Victoria Hudson and now-former Council member Carolina Graver introduced the measure last month.

The ordinance would apply to anyone sleeping in public spaces, including people experiencing homelessness. The measure was intended to give city officials a tool to discourage the practice and promote public safety, Hudson said in an interview last month.

If approved, the Palmer Police Department would enforce the ban, officials said. Individuals who violate the rule may be given information about local resources or fined up to $300, according to the proposal and current city code.

There are no homeless shelters in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.

Council members said Tuesday that if the ban is adopted, they plan to revise the city’s fine schedule to reduce the penalty. Fines are set through the city’s annual budget. No specific fine updates have been proposed.

The ordinance is intended to address the act of public camping, not the status of homelessness, the proposal states.

[Related: As winter sets in, Alaska DOT prepares another push to remove homeless encampments]

“The City Council finds that the regulation of camping on public property is necessary to maintain public health, safety and access to municipal facilities and services. This chapter is intended to prohibit conduct, not status, in a content-neutral manner that preserves public space for its intended uses,” the measure states.

Palmer police make regular contact with about 10 unhoused individuals, down from about 40 in 2022, Cmdr. Luke Szipzsky said last month.

As written, the proposal would also ban camping on private property that abuts a city sidewalk, such as a driveway or doorway.

That section will likely be revised when the council takes up the ordinance later this month because the city cannot regulate activity on private property regardless of location, Cooper said. The council directed the city attorney to draft updated language that would allow police to remove sleeping individuals from private property if it blocks access to public space, such as driveways adjacent to the street.

An amendment approved unanimously Tuesday also clarifies that the ordinance applies to “public property.”

About a dozen individuals from across the Matanuska-Susitna Borough spoke about the proposal during public comment.

“Regardless of your religion, caring for others is our responsibility, not the government's. What are you going to do about it? Sometimes loving people means not allowing them to refuse help and sit in their own filth, addiction and manipulation,” said Graver, who proposed the ordinance in September and ended her council term Monday after losing her bid for reelection. “I've seen a lot of these issues from my front door, and the people who came from … outside the city limits — they’re not going to see the effects unless they come to downtown Palmer, they don’t live where this is going to take effect.”

Several attorneys who said they work as public defenders at the Palmer Courthouse testified that they believe the proposal could ultimately lead to criminal charges against homeless individuals who need mental health services, not jail.

One potential solution, they said, could be the creation of a shelter program in Mat-Su.

“I don't want us to turn into Anchorage. I love Palmer. I love how it feels. I don't like how Anchorage feels,” said Molly Banas. “But we just need to be a little bit better, give more forethought to establishing those shelters first.”

-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com