The Gainesville City Commission discussed changes to public encampment ordinances during a Thursday General Policy Committee meeting.
Florida HB 1365 went into effect in October 2024, calling on local governments to ban camping or sleeping on public property. The city created its ordinance two months later in accordance with the law. It defines public camping as “lodging or residing overnight in a temporary outdoor habitation used as a dwelling or living space” with bedding or storage of personal belongings with or without a tent.
The city’s ordinance allows the Gainesville Police Department to enforce the state statute. The commission revisited the ordinances Thursday with a focus on clarifying part of it.
Phil Mann, the city’s special projects administrator, proposed removing the word “overnight” from the previous city ordinance. The word isn’t defined in the ordinance, and striking the word would allow GPD to immediately address complaints of encampments instead of waiting until nighttime, he said. Public encampments and sleeping is unlawful at all times of day, according to the statute.
Commissioner Casey Willits argued “overnight” should be defined in the ordinance instead of removed. City parks close at certain times and could provide a consistent reference, he said.
Striking the word would allow GPD to enforce the ordinance 24/7, providing more oversight than Willits said is necessary.
“God forbid I ever fall asleep in the beautiful sun rays of a November day or March day out in the plaza,” Willits said.
While the ordinance specifies the presence of bedding or a shelter are necessary for determining encampments, Willits said he often carries a pillow because of his back problems. He questioned whether laying with it on a park bench would be considered unlawful under the ordinance, especially if “overnight” is stricken from it.
“We’re finding any last reason just to get rid of homeless people,” he said.
Gainesville Police Department Chief Nelson Moya said the department can currently only enforce between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. under the ambiguous “overnight” label.
By striking the word or defining it in the ordinance, Moya said the department can avoid relying on officer discretion to determine whether someone is breaking the law.
He specified law enforcement action is taken when individuals have belongings with them that imply it’s “more of an extended stay.”
“We come across folks that are napping, and napping is not unlawful,” he said. “We all should nap.”
Changes to state law in the past year has prompted the proposed adjustments, said Daniel M. Nee, the city attorney.
The new legislation allows for independent attorney action, he said. Individuals can notify the city of public sleeping overnight, and if the city allows the encampment, private action could be taken against the city. The Supreme Court ruled the law is cruel and unusual punishment if there’s nowhere else for homeless individuals to go, Nee said, but this puts Gainesville “between a rock and a hard place.”
The commission also discussed changing the section of its February 2021 ordinance that bans pedestrians on road medians wider than 6 feet. Mann proposed the city prohibit pedestrians on all right-of-way medians, citing safety concerns.
The city saw 16 pedestrian deaths between 2022 and 2024, he said. The majority occurred in medians, regardless of their width.
Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward spoke in favor of expanding the ordinance, an opinion he said is “entirely about safety.” Pedestrians have fallen into traffic while standing on medians, leading to a “domino effect” of injuries, he said.
“I don’t think it is safe for people to be in medians longer than it takes to take a respite across the road,” Ward said. “I know that there will be rhetoric coming at me, but that’s OK, because this is about keeping people safe.”
Having past experiences with picket lines and campaigning, Commissioner James Ingle said he supports extending the ban. He hopes the ordinance change would encourage protesters to instead stand on the sides of the road, which he said is far safer.
“I think interacting with traffic from the middle of the road is a pretty dangerous place to be,” Ingle said.
Commissioner Ed Book moved to refer both ordinance changes to city staff to look at other cities’ practices. While the median change is “largely squared away,” he said discussion of the “overnight” specification would require more conversation.
The motion was passed 5-2, with Commissioners Casey Willits and Bryan Eastman in dissent.
Commissioner Desmon Duncan-Walker said she wants affected residents and advocates to be a part of the discussion and didn’t want to make a decision without hearing from them.
“As we were sitting here deliberating and having this conversation, particularly about the definition of ‘overnight’ and how we would arrive at that, I don’t think there was one of us up here who wasn’t terribly uncomfortable,” Duncan-Walker said.
Eastman moved to have city staff reach out to local advocates to be part of the conversation. It was passed unanimously.