Greenville community discusses future of ‘public camping’ ordinance after vote postponed
By Rey Llerena
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GREENVILLE, South Carolina (WYFF) — The Greenville community is discussing the future of the city’s proposed “public camping” ordinance after the city council decided to postpone a vote earlier this week.
The proposed ordinance, which could have prevented people from sleeping outdoors in public areas, was pushed back to at least August in a 6-1 vote, Monday night.
“It’s not a bad thing to coordinate a response to people who are sleeping outside,” Miracle Hill Ministries COO Justin Boles said. “No one wants to see people sleeping outside in these conditions. What’s important is that we do back up and say, ‘Do we have adequate resources? How do people access those? Have we given people fair warning?'”
City of Greenville punts on ‘public camping’ ordinance that could limit sleeping in public areas Boles said he respects the city council’s decision, describing the way the proposed ordinance was written as “broad.” However, he did like how a homeless court option was available as a possible tool for law enforcement to use.
“I think that this is an important moment in the life of Greenville,” Boles said. “Mayor Knox [White] said it best, that the answer is not criminality. It’s a solutions orientation, and I think that the current ordinance, as it’s written, it leans very heavily toward the enforcement.”
A man who is currently unhoused did not want to share his identity with WYFF News 4.
He said the proposed ordinance could have further strained the relationship between the unhoused and the police.
“Our relationship is not already good. Some yes, some no,” he said. “But, the lack of human respect– because if somebody has no place to go, and there’s a bench and it’s two hours, well, do they sleep two hours before somebody comes up and kicks them?”
He also said getting help can be a challenge.
“Out here on the streets, you have to live with a brotherhood that most people don’t understand,” he said. “We all look out for each other. We are all one. We’re all in the same boat. We have a bunch of issues that we deal with, but getting help is misery and hopelessness.”
His concerns are some of the issues Boles hopes are addressed with a future ordinance.
“Any solution has to bring together service providers and ensure that there’s adequate resources, and right now, there’s still a ramping up of those resources,” Boles said. “I just don’t think that we’re quite there yet to launch this ordinance.”
Boles said the service providers for the unhoused are talking about getting together to explore what the next steps could look like.
He also said they want to work with the city council to explore every possibility.
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