BAKER CITY — Police Chief Ty Duby is asking the city council to approve an ordinance limiting where and when people can camp in parks and other public property.

Duby, who presented Ordinance 3383 to councilors during a recent meeting, said the document is intended to address problems with homeless people camping on public property.

The ordinance states, in part: “It shall be unlawful for any person to set up tents or any other temporary shelter or to use house trailers, campers or automobiles for the purpose of overnight camping in any city park, nor shall any person remain in any city park after closing hours; provided, however, organized youth groups under competent adult supervision may be permitted overnight camping privileges.”

The ordinance defines parks as including the Leo Adler Memorial Parkway. The ordinance also prohibits camping in several other specific public properties, including within 150 of any school, preschool or child care center, or at the Baker Heritage Museum at 2480 Grove St., the Baker County Courthouse, Sam-O Swim Center, the YMCA gym on Church Street and the YMCA Fitness Center on Pocahontas Road.

The ordinance also states that if someone is living in a vehicle, it must be moved at least every 24 hours and for at least the distance of a city block.

“Really what we’re doing, we’re looking for solutions to work with homeless issues that regularly arise in our community,” Duby told councilors.

The police chief said last summer that he intended to bring an ordinance to councilors to consider.

He was prompted by a bill that the Oregon Legislature passed earlier in 2021 and that Gov. Kate Brown signed into law on June 23.

The law — introduced as House Bill 3115 and passed by the Democratic majorities in both the state House and Senate — is based on a 2019 federal court ruling in a Boise case that in effect prohibited cities and counties from making it illegal for people to sleep outdoors in public spaces if the jurisdiction doesn’t provide indoor alternatives.

Baker County’s two state legislators, Sen. Lynn Findley, R-Vale, and Rep. Mark Owens, R-Crane, both voted against the bill.

The new Oregon law states that cities or counties that have ordinances regulating “the acts of sitting, lying, sleeping or keeping warm and dry outdoors on public property that is open to the public must be objectively reasonable as to time, place and manner with regards to persons experiencing homelessness.”

Baker City does not have such an ordinance now, but Duby said ordinance 3383 would serve that purpose.

According to state law, “A person experiencing homelessness may bring suit for injunctive or declaratory relief to challenge the objective reasonableness of a city or county law.”

The law states that “reasonableness shall be determined based on the totality of the circumstances, including, but not limited to, the impact of the law on persons experiencing homelessness.”

Duby said that once House Bill 3115 passed, he looked at what other cities had done, finding that Coos Bay and North Bend had come up with an ordinance similar to Baker City’s proposed ordinance 3383.

“We feel like House Bill 3115, while offering compassion and support to those experiencing homelessness, can fail sometimes to protect both the citizens of our community and the very homelessness the law is designed to protect,” Duby told councilors at the meeting.

Duby said the proposed Baker City ordinance would prevent camping on public property in residential zones, while it would be allowed, with time restrictions, on public property in general commercial, general industrial and light industrial zones.

The time restriction states that people can’t camp on public property between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m.

He emphasized that the ordinance applies to public property. People are not allowed to camp on someone else’s private property regardless of the zone.

“I feel like we’re being reasonable and we’re allowing space,” Duby said.