Draft copies of proposed changes to City of Portland ordinances obtained by the organization “Enough is Enough” show city officials may be preparing to legalize loitering and camping for the Portland’s homeless population.
[RELATED: ‘Millsvilles’: The Maine Wire Visits Portland’s Drug-Infested Tent Cities…]
The drafted changes, obtained by Enough is Enough by a Freedom of Access Act (FOAA) request late last week, would alter three sections of Portland city ordinances to allow for homeless individuals to continue camping in certain areas until April 30, 2024.
The first change would add an exception for the homeless to the city’s ordinances against loitering.
The proposed change states that it “shall not be unlawful loitering for unhoused people living in the City of Portland to cause or commit any of the conditions enumerated in subsections (b)(1) and (b)(2) herein.”
Sections (b)(1) and (b)(2) of Chapter 17-1 of the Portland City Code prohibit the obstruction of public streets and sidewalks, and (b)(2) prohibits the interference of people’s use of public property.
Under the change, Portland’s homeless “shall be allowed to camp, sleep, sit, and otherwise loiter in any public place,” with the exception of Portland public school zones, Monument Square, and City Hall plaza.
Similarly to the first proposed change, the second change concerns loitering in Portland’s public parks.
This second proposed change would allow the city’s homeless to “camp, sleep, stop, loiter, and otherwise remain in any parks of the city” until April 30, 2024, with the exception of Clark Street Playground, Marada Adams Playground, Monument Square, Munjoy South Playground, Pleasant Street Playground, South Street Playground, and Tate-Tyng Playground.
Currently, the ordinance prohibits camping and loitering in the city’s public parks between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:30 a.m.
The change would also allow homeless people to sleep in their cars in a parked vehicle in the city’s parks.
The third drafted ordinance change related to prohibitions on the obstruction of streets and public sidewalks — normally used to prohibit unauthorized events which block public ways or sidewalk signs.
The current ordinance includes exceptions for street artists who set up tables to sell their art, and political protests protected under the First Amendment.
The drafted ordinance change would add an exception for obtaining a “sidewalk occupancy permit” for “unhoused individuals living in the City of Portland who use tents, tarps, wooden pallets, sleeping bags, blankets, boxes, carts, and other equipment to create shelter for sleeping and other life-sustaining conduct in public places.”
City of Portland Spokesperson Jessica Grondin told the Maine Wire Monday that these proposed changes are expected to be on the agenda for a first read during the Nov. 13 City Council meeting, less than a week after Election Day.
These proposed changes come as the city, alongside the Maine Department of Transportation, cleared out the city’s largest homeless encampment at the Marginal Way Park and Ride on Nov. 1.
[RELATED: Sweep Underway at Portland’s Largest Homeless Encampment, Being Moved Below Casco Bay Bridge…]
Many of the homeless individuals who lived at the Park and Ride encampment were moved to another large encampment underneath the Casco Bay Bridge.
Current city data reports a total of 208 tents throughout Portland, down from over 280 prior to the sweep of the Park and Ride encampment.
Recent efforts by the Portland City Council to expand capacity at the city’s Homeless Services Center via a limited state of emergency declaration have failed.
Below is a copy of the three drafted ordinance changes obtained by Enough is Enough:
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="23117 https://www.themainewire.com/?p=23117">10 Comments
Edward, you do good work.
Steven Scharf
It’s the final kiss of death for my hometown. When the tourist revenue stops coming because of it being turned into a sewer like San Fransicko, maybe the idiots running the city will finally be voted out….but it’ll be just like changing a baby’s diaper. Expect more s**t to keep coming courtesy of the Marxist cockroaches doing the voting.
Portland Oregon tried that and they got sued by disability rights people because people in wheelchairs had to wheel in the street to get around the side walk campers. Now it is outlawed. It was a disaster. Sidewalks are for walking to and from and for wheel chairs to roll. Now tents are required to be removed by 8 am and not put back up till 8 pm. In 2 weeks street camping will be banned by the city. People will be required to go to shelters. It cost millions to clean up the garbage after the campers. It caused great environmental harm in our parks. Millions of tax payer dollars were wasted cleaning up after each camp after it was removed. Syringes and needles were found everywhere, sidewalks and all over parks. There were about 6 tent fires a day, totally monopolizing fire departments. Regular citizens fire needs were not met because not enough fire workers to go around. It was a total fail. Please research Portland Oregon before you go down this path. It helped no one. Enabling drug abuse just causes death and insanity. And fentanyl was found in parks and sidewalks by children and Narcan had to be administered to the kids. They were attracted to the shiny foil.
The people of Portland and Maine just do not get it!!! All the people from out of state have ruined this state. Instead of coming to Maine and embracing its way of life they had to destroy it by changing it to their warped and sick Marxist ideology. IF you can get out do it now before its too late.
It feels pretty easy to put together, especially lately, that the easier it is made to be homeless, the more accomodations provided, the more homeless will come. This would all would be one thing if all of the homeless were originating from here. But there is a good reason I have a problem with them all coming from places such as Angola, just as an example. Angola’s population increased from 23 million in 2010 to 34 million in 2020, an increase of nearly 50% in just 10 years, and at this point their population adds a State of Maine worth of people every year. We won’t save them all by bringing them all here. All we will do is make here a lot more like there.
I’d love to play the role of the warm-hearted, welcoming person. But there are some things that may be good in modest quantities that are awful in huge quantities. So it’s time to stop being too accomodating.
The Portland Council is living proof that you just can’t fix stupid.
Yeah, let’s condone and encourage this madness with NO CONSEQUENCES! Give them free needles. If you see a person taking a dump on the sidewalk, throw him/her a roll of toilet paper. Their Mental health is just a distraction. Must be caused by Climate Change. Good job Portland.
Is there anything Portland residents can do to prevent these changes from going through?
Stop all forms of welfare for illegal aliens and unvetted/bogus asylum seekers.
Send all welfare seekers that traveled to Maine for easy access to turbocharged welfare benefits back to their point of origin.
@ Wilbon
Portland residents (registered voters) are the problem.