The Minneapolis City Council introduces an ordinance to combat homeless encampments
Members of the Minneapolis City Council have introduced ordinances to try to combat the fight homeless camps throughout the city.
They look to cities like Denver, Colorado, and Duluth, Minnesota, for ideas on how to effectively combat homelessness in the city.
It’s an ongoing cycle in Minneapolis: a homeless camp pops up, the city clears it out, and then another pops up nearby.
Minneapolis city council members hope to break this pattern with a new effort.
“We want to test these to make sure they work properly,” said Minneapolis City Councilman Jason Chavez.
Councilors Chavez, Aurin Chowdhury and Aisha Chughtai introduce themselves Safe outdoor spaces and safe parking to provide a consistent place for homeless people.
Chavez explained at the Nov. 14 full council meeting that the safe outdoor spaces could include small homes, structured pods or tents and parking lots where the homeless community can legally park overnight.
“There is safe parking, just like in Duluth, which is seasonal, where someone can park their car overnight and get services and meals from a service provider,” Chavez said.
The location of these spaces would be on city property or on non-profit land, if they want to help.
Crabtree said a resolution is long overdue, but this could help.
“I think it’s certainly part of the continuum of care that we need to provide in our city,” Crabtree said. “I think that would be a nice step. It is certainly not everything, but it is something.”
Crabtree explained that affordable housing is the permanent solution, but what is available now is still not affordable for everyone.
The next step is to officially draft regulations regarding these efforts.
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