Parkersburg Council approves camping prohibition
Photo by Evan Bevins Parkersburg City Council President Sharon Kuhl speaks during Tuesday’s meeting at the Municipal Building. Council voted 7-1, with Councilwoman Wendy Tuck opposed and Councilman J.R. Carpenter absent, to approve the final reading of an ordinance prohibiting camping on public property.
Photo by Evan Bevins Parkersburg resident Zoe Ham expresses her opposition to an ordinance prohibiting camping on public property during Tuesday’s Parkersburg City Council meeting. The ordinance passed on final reading 7-1, with Councilwoman Wendy Tuck opposed and Councilman J.R. Carpenter absent. Council was still meeting as the Urban Renewal Authority by deadline Tuesday evening.
Photo by Evan Bevins Parkersburg City Council President Sharon Kuhl speaks during Tuesday’s meeting at the Municipal Building. Council voted 7-1, with Councilwoman Wendy Tuck opposed and Councilman J.R. Carpenter absent, to approve the final reading of an ordinance prohibiting camping on public property.
Photo by Evan Bevins Parkersburg resident Zoe Ham expresses her opposition to an ordinance prohibiting camping on public property during Tuesday’s Parkersburg City Council meeting. The ordinance passed on final reading 7-1, with Councilwoman Wendy Tuck opposed and Councilman J.R. Carpenter absent. Council was still meeting as the Urban Renewal Authority by deadline Tuesday evening.
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PARKERSBURG - After hearing arguments for and against from residents of the city and region, Parkersburg City Council voted Tuesday to approve the final reading of an ordinance prohibiting camping on public property.
The vote was 7-1, with Councilwoman Wendy Tuck opposed and Councilman J.R. Carpenter having left the meeting early.
Some speakers in the public forum argued the ordinance was an unfair and ineffective strike against the homeless, while others said it's a reasonable rule to expect people to follow.
The ordinance prohibits sleeping, storing personal property or cooking for habitation purposes on property including streets, sidewalks, parks, parking lots, public rights of way and under bridges. Violators could face a fine of $100 to $500.
Parkersburg resident Zoe Ham said the measure would target homeless individuals, many of whom have some form of mental illness. It could be considered unconstitutional or an infringement on human rights, she said.
"These people are human beings we're talking about," Ham said. "We can't say we're going to charge you $500 every time you fall asleep in Parkersburg."
Parkersburg resident Victoria West said she owns commercial property on Fifth Street and is "on the front lines of the homeless situation in this town." While she said she's talked with and donated to homeless individuals, having people sleeping on streets or in parks is harmful toward economic development efforts and creates safety concerns. A law prohibiting camping on public property is similar to laws against shoplifting or open dumping, West said.
Keith Eddy, who works with the poor and homeless in the area, said he believes supporters of the ordinance have good intentions but called it a "short-term fix that could be legally questionable and morally problematic.
"Vulnerable people will be targeted rather than receive the help they so desperately need," he said. "Even if this was successful, we would merely be pushing these people away from service providers."
Parkersburg resident Kim van Rijn said addressing the area's housing shortage would be more helpful than the ordinance, which she said would only drive people from public property to private areas like a neighbor's wooded lot where trespassers frequently start fires.
Little Hocking resident Mark Belyus said he owns rental property in the city but is getting out of it due to problems with tenants damaging property. He said he's rented units to formerly homeless individuals and it hasn't worked out well.
Failing to pass the ordinance would invite drug use, prostitution and other negative activity into the city's parks, he said.
"You might as well build a wall around City Park and call it City Prison," he said.
Parkersburg resident Sue Ellen Waybright questioned the effectiveness of fining homeless individuals.
"If folks have $100 to $500 to pay a fine, they might have a roof over their head," she said.
Councilman Bob Mercer made a motion to remove the fines from the ordinance but withdrew it after Mayor Tom Joyce said there must be some sort of penalty.
"If not, this would be just a resolution, and then it would really be just a do-nothing piece of legislation," he said.
The municipal judge would have discretion in levying fines and would likely go toward the lower end or recommend alternative sentences unless the individual was a repeat offender, City Attorney Blaine Myers said.
Joyce said some of those alternatives could include getting help or treatment.
"It's not about the money, but ... there's got to be consequences for not following the rules," he said.
In other business, council unanimously approved the first reading of an ordinance vacating a portion of an unnamed alley north of 25th Street and east of Fairview Avenue and a resolution authorizing Joyce to accept a $2,970 state grant to support the 2024 Taste of Parkersburg event.
Three appointments to the City Tree Commission were approved unanimously, along with two reappointments to the Municipal Planning Commission. A member of the audience asked to discuss the Tree Commission but council President Sharon Kuhl said he could not because the public forum had ended. The man continued to speak, raising his voice as Kuhl asked him to leave and then asked Police Chief Matthew Board to intervene. Board said after the meeting the man left without further incident.
After the meeting ended shortly before 8:40 p.m., council convened as the Urban Renewal Authority.
They voted 6-0, with Carpenter and Councilmen Mike Reynolds and Zach Stanley absent, to refer property at 1123 Latrobe St. submitted for donation back to the Building Enforcement Agency for a potential demolition and lien. City Planner Connor LaVelle said an issue with the title calls into question ownership of the property.
The authority also voted 6-0 to accept offers of $3,500 to purchase a vacant lot at 806 Quincy St. and $500 for a vacant lot at 1715 Staunton Ave.
Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.