The Austin City Council is poised to ban camping in four areas of the city that have been overtaken by people experiencing homelessness – but will try to make it happen without any of the tools typically used to enforce such a ban.
In a watered-down amendment to a heftier proposal to get people off the streets and into supportive housing, Council Member Ann Kitchen made clear Tuesday that policing and citations are no longer on the table as potential punishments for disobeying the ban.
The removal of potential legal consequences represented a shift by Kitchen and five council members who co-sponsored her plan. Kitchen unveiled it last month to mixed reviews, with community members saying they are weary over the city's growing crisis and activists saying it's cruel to punish someone on the basis they cannot afford a home and have to sleep outside.