AUSTIN POLICE

DEPARTMENT
TRAINING BULLETIN

Date: October 25, 2019

Revised: October 28, 2019
COA: Camping Ordinance
This bulletin is intended to provide guidance to officers on enforcing the revised City Code § 9-
4-11 (Camping and Obstruction in Public Areas Prohibited).

This bulletin replaces the October 3 training bulletin regarding § 9-4-11 and updates the
October 25 training bulletin.

On October 17, 2019, City Council made significant revisions to City Code § 9-4-11 (Camping
and Obstruction in Public Areas Prohibited). The revised ordinance took effect on Monday,
October 28, 2019. The Department is also distributing a Quick Reference Guide to assist officers.

This bulletin provides updated guidance and direction for Section (B)(2) of the ordinance.
Amendments to the original bulletin are denoted by highlighted text.

Note: This version of the ordinance shows with underlined text the parts that have been added,
and shows with strikethrough text the word that has been deleted.

Annotated direction and guidance is demarcated with red text.

The Ordinance:

§ 9-4-11 Camping AND OBSTRUCTION in CERTAIN Public Areas Prohibited

(A) In this section:

(1) PUBLIC AREA means an outdoor area accessible to the public including a street,
highway, park, parking lot, alleyway, pedestrian way, and the common areas of a school, hospital,
apartment building, office building, transport facility, or business.

(2) CAMP means the use of a public area for living accommodation purposes including:

(a) storing personal belongings for an extended period of time;

The Code now provides that a person be “storing personal belongings for an extended period
of time.” This might mean, for example, that a person is keeping their personal belongings in
a tent, structure, or place where it is apparent the person is not regularly moving the items.
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(b) making a camp fire;
(c) using a tent or shelter or other structure [or vehicle] for a living accommodation;

For the “using a tent or shelter” provision, the Code no longer makes a reference to using a
“vehicle.” This does not necessarily mean that a person can never camp in a vehicle. If
officers suspect a person is camping in a vehicle, they should look for other evidence that a
person is camping there, including storing personal belongings for an extended period,
having bedding in the vehicle, and carrying on activities of daily living in or near the vehicle.

(d) carrying on cooking activities; or

(e) digging or earth breaking activities.

(3) HOMELESS SHELTER means a supervised publicly or privately operated facility that
is designed to provide temporary living accommodations for individuals who lack a fixed, regular,
and adequate residence while providing them with social services and other assistance to find a
home and that is designated by the city as a shelter.

The City has designated only the ARCH as a "homeless shelter" for purposes of this
ordinance. The Department will provide an updated list if and when the City designates
additional facilities.

(B) Except as provided in Subsection (F), a person commits an offense if, after having been
notified by a law enforcement officer that the conduct violates this section and having been given
a reasonable opportunity by a law enforcement officer to correct the violating conduct, the
person:

Like the prior version, the revised ordinance requires that an officer give a subject notice
that he or she is violating the “Camping” ordinance. The officer must also give the subject a
reasonable amount of time to cease the violating behavior prior to taking enforcement
action. Giving the notice will typically satisfy any mens rea (intentional, knowing, or reckless)
requirement.

Individuals who are violating the law must immediately comply with an officer’s direction to
correct the violation. Officers must give the individual a reasonable amount of time to
achieve compliance by, for example, breaking down the campsite, eliminating the dangerous
condition, or removing the obstruction.

The circumstances will dictate what constitutes a reasonable amount of time for a subject to
come into compliance. This will depend on the existing or potential hazard posed by the
violation, the conditions, and the abilities of the offender. In general, a reasonable amount
time to come into compliance will be the minimum time necessary to change the offending
behavior or otherwise correct the violation. An officer can move or remove objects that are
part of a campsite causing a dangerous obstruction or condition. If the object is too large or
cumbersome to immediately relocate, an officer can make a CAD notation and submit a
service request via Dispatch to precipitate a pickup from the appropriate City department.

Officers frequently encounter repeat offenders. Nonetheless, officers must give notice and
reasonable opportunity to come into compliance for each new violation.

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(1) camps in a public area that is not designated as a camping area by the City of Austin and the
person is:

(a) materially endangering the health or safety of another person or of themselves; or

Endangering – Circumstances that might justify enforcement action under the

“endangering” prong include camping in a public area in a location or manner that:
 requires pedestrians to step off of a sidewalk into a street to avoid an
obstruction caused by a campsite;
 requires pedestrians or others to step over objects or people that are part of a
campsite, such that a pedestrian might trip and fall and injure themselves;
 limits or prevents ingress or egress from a building onto the sidewalk (this
could present a danger in the event of an emergency inside the building);
 involves the use of flammable materials in making a fire underneath a
highway or in proximity to other sensitive infrastructure;
 involves the use of flammable materials (e.g., propane, kerosene, etc.) or
making a fire during a burn ban;
 is in a creek bed or other area prone to unpredictable flash flooding (the
Department will provide additional guidance on specific locations of flood
prone areas);
 is close enough to a roadway where there is substantial risk that a car could
leave the roadway and strike a person camping; or
 involves the use of an indoor mattress(es) or other upholstered furniture that
is not designed or appropriate for outdoor use. (The department is currently
working with other city departments to put together the plan for
implementation of this restriction and more information will follow).

(b) intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly rendering impassable or impeding the

reasonable use of a public area making usage of such area unreasonably inconvenient
or hazardous.

Blocking – Circumstances that might justify enforcement action under the rendering
“unreasonably inconvenient or hazardous” prong include camping in a public area in a
manner that:
 blocks the sidewalk such that a person in a wheelchair or a person
pushing a shopping cart or stroller could not use the sidewalk in a normal
or expected manner;
 fails to leave a straight path on the sidewalk for pedestrian use
(belongings or people cannot create a “zig-zagging” obstacle course on a
sidewalk); or
 blocks or limits access to public infrastructure like parking spaces,
parking pay stations, benches, bus stops, fire hydrants, etc. (the law does
not prevent ordinary use of these areas for non-camping purposes).

Importantly, subsection (D), outlined below, provides that a person is materially

endangering his or her health or safety or that of another, or that the person is rendering
impassable or impeding the reasonable use of the public area, if they are camping on a
sidewalk. Accordingly, camping on a sidewalk is prohibited.

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(2) camps, sits or lies down in a public area and the person is located:

(a) within the area of the Austin Resource Center for Homelessness (ARCH) and
Salvation Army Downtown Shelter, so long as either is an operating homeless shelter,
bordered by East Fourth Street (South), South Bound I-35 Frontage Road (East), East
11th Street (North), and Brazos Street (West); or

This provision of the ordinance can now be enforced, provided the individual alleged to be in
violation is not on the “Camping Ordinance Exemption List”, which was compiled on
October 28, 2019, in accordance with the instructions to the City Manager outlined in Part 2
of the ordinance. The exemption list is located on the APD Main SharePoint homepage and
can be accessed directly by officers or via Communications.

(b) within approximately one-quarter mile, with boundaries set by the City Manager and
posted with signage, of an operating homeless shelter located outside of the Central
Business District; or

This provision is NOT currently enforceable, as the City has designated only the ARCH as a
"homeless shelter" for purposes of this ordinance. The Department will provide an updated
list if and when the City designates additional facilities.

(c) within 15 feet of a door jamb of a residence or a business during the business’
operating hours.

This provision is now enforceable CITYWIDE, provided the individual alleged to be in

violation is not on the “Camping Ordinance Exemption List”.

The ordinance currently restricts enforcing (B)(2) against certain individuals. Once further
information is developed and those individuals are identified, Officers may enforce (B)(2).
The Department anticipates that this will occur within one calendar week and will provide
additional direction and guidance at that time.

(3) camps in an area that the city designates as a high wildfire risk area.

The Austin Fire Department has identified and mapped these areas. Officers can access the
maps on their city phones at the following link: https://arcg.is/1my1Gf. Areas with a high
wildfire risk are marked in red on the maps.

(C) Unless a law enforcement officer determines that there is an imminent health or
safety threat, a law enforcement officer must, before citing a person for a violation of this section,
make a reasonable effort to:

(1) advise the person of a lawful alternative place to camp;

Alternative lawful places to camp include city and state parks where camping is permitted
(this includes, for example, Emma Long Park and McKinney Falls State Park). Sometimes a
person may be in violation if they are camping in a lawful place but they are also, for
example, camping too close to a roadway or using hazardous items to camp. In these types
of situations, officers should instruct the person to move to a nearby, lawful spot (for
example further back from the roadway), or to stop camping with the hazardous item.
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 (2) advise the person, to the best of the law enforcement officer’s knowledge, of available
shelter or housing; and

Officers should contact the on-duty Watch Lieutenant at the Real Time Crime Center to
obtain the most recently updated information regarding available shelter space at the ARCH
or another appropriate facility.

(3) contact, if reasonable and appropriate, a city designee who has the authority to offer to
transport the person or provide the person with services.

Finally, officers should be aware of when the HOST team operates, and when other
resources might be reasonably available to transport the person to a lawful alternative camp
site or a shelter, or might be available to offer the person access to homeless services. The
HOST team generally logs on via CAD/MDC and operates on George radio.

(D) A person is materially endangering the health or safety of another person or of themselves,
or is rendering impassable or impeding the reasonable use of a public area making usage of such
area unreasonably inconvenient or hazardous if the person is camping on a sidewalk.

Importantly, subsection (D) provides that a person is materially endangering his or her
health or safety or that of another, or that the person is rendering impassable or impeding
the reasonable use of the public area, if they are camping on a sidewalk. Accordingly,
camping on a sidewalk is prohibited.

(E) A person is camping if the person engages in any of the activities listed in Subsection
(A)(2) if it reasonably appears, based on the totality of the circumstances, that the person
conducting the activity is using a public area for living accommodation purposes, regardless of
the person's intent or engagement in other activities.

(F) This section does not apply to permitted camping or cooking in a park in compliance with
park regulations.

(G) Subsection (B)(2) does not apply to a person who is sitting or lying if the person is:

(1) in the right-of-way because of a medical emergency;

(2) operating or patronizing a commercial establishment that conducts business on the

sidewalk under Title 14 (Streets and Use of Public Property) of the Code;

(3) participating in or viewing a parade, festival, performance, rally, demonstration, or

similar event;

(4) sitting on a chair or bench that is supplied by a public agency or by the abutting private
property owner;

(5) sitting within a bus stop zone while waiting for public or private transportation; or

(6) waiting in a line for goods, services, or a public event.

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(H) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution for a violation of Subsection (B)(2) if a person
is sitting or lying and is obstructing the right-of-way, but is seated or lying down as the result of a
physical manifestation of a disability, not limited to visual observation.

(I) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution that a person owns the property or has secured
the permission of the property owner to camp in a public area.

PART 2. Instructions to City Manager.

The City Manager is directed not to enforce Subsection (B)(2) of City Code Section 9-4-11
(Camping and Obstruction in Certain Public Areas Prohibited) against individuals who are
alleged to be in violation of these City Code provisions and who are, on the effective date of this
ordinance, within the area around a homeless shelter as defined in Subsection (A)(3) of City Code
Section 9-4-11 (Camping and Obstruction in Certain Public Areas Prohibited) beginning when
the effort to relocate is initiated and ending when the following events occur:

(1) The City Manager certifies that the City has offered appropriate services and non-
shelter housing to these individuals; and

(2) the City Manager posts on the city website a report documenting that the city has
given these individuals an adequate opportunity to participate in non-shelter housing
and services, that the non-shelter housing and services being offered to individuals are
appropriate based on the assessments completed; and

(3) that these individuals have been adequately educated about city rules related to
camping or sitting or lying in the prohibited area around homeless shelters, and that
individuals have been granted sufficient time to participate in non-shelter housing and
service programs.

[End of Ordinance]

Documentation:

Officers shall document the conditions that result in the notice and any enforcement action on the
citation, or in a report (if one is written). The documentation shall include the approximate
amount of time elapsed between the time of the initial notice of the violation and the time of
enforcement action (citation or arrest). The documentation shall also include the information
given to the person before a citation is issued, or whether the officer determined there was an
imminent risk to health or safety. Officers will also take photographs of the observable
conditions that constitute the offense.

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