Minneapolis City Council introduces ordinance to combat homeless encampments

Minneapolis city council members have introduced ordinances to try and combat homeless encampments across the city.

They’re looking at cities like Denver, Colo., and Duluth, Minn., to get ideas on how to effectively combat homelessness in the city.

It’s an ongoing cycle in Minneapolis: a homeless encampment pops up, the city clears it and then another one emerges close by.

Minneapolis city council members are hoping to stop that pattern with a new effort.

“We want to pilot these to make sure they work correctly,” Jason Chavez, Minneapolis city council member, said.

Council members Chavez, Aurin Chowdhury and Aisha Chughtai are introducing Safe Outdoor Spaces and Safe Parking Spaces to provide a consistent place for those living in homelessness.

Chavez explained at the Nov. 14 full council meeting that the safe outdoor spaces could be tiny homes, structured pods or tents and parking lots where the homeless community could legally park overnight.

“There’s safe parking like in Duluth, which is seasonal, where someone can park their car overnight and get services and meals from a provider,” Chavez said.

The location of these spaces would be city-owned or on non-profit land, if they want to help.

Crabtree said a solution is long overdue, but this could help.

“I think that it is definitely a piece of the continuum of care that we need to be providing in our city,” Crabtree said. “I think that would be a great step. It’s certainly not everything, but it’s something.”

Crabtree explained affordable housing is the permanent solution, but what’s available now is still not affordable for everyone.

The next step is to officially draft ordinances related to these efforts.