Aurora bans ‘camping’ on city property, including protest camps and homelessness

Aurora City Council on Sept. 9 approved an immediate ban on camping on public property, including streets, sidewalks, easements, parks, parking lots, public grounds and public right of ways.

The ban includes setting up camp, remaining in or at the property to sleep, preparing to sleep and/or “performing cooking activities for habitation purposes.”

Aurora Law Director Dean DePiero characterized the ordinance as a blanket prohibition.

“We don’t want college kids or even high school kids thinking they can camp in the parks,” he said. “Yes, it also affects homeless, but no one’s being singled out.”

Without the ordinance, the city could be liable for injuries people might sustain while camping in the city’s open spaces, he said, adding that city officials must be “good stewards” of Aurora’s land and taxpayer dollars.

Protestors are still free, as they have in the past, to exercise their First Amendment rights in city parks and open areas, DePiero said. However, they will not be permitted to set up temporary camps in those spaces.

First-time offenders of Aurora’s newest ordinance will face a fourth-degree misdemeanor charge. If the person has a previous conviction or has entered a previous guilty plea, they will be charged with a first-degree misdemeanor.

Council’s action follows a June 28 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that cities can ban people from sleeping and camping in public places. The Court’s 6-3 decision overturns lower court rulings that enforcing camping bans when shelter is lacking amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.

Writing for the majority, Justice Neil Gorsuch stated that the Court’s decision was directly related to homelessness, and that cities should decide their own homelessness policies. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in her dissent that banning camping in public places leaves homeless people with impossible choices: “either stay awake or be arrested.”

Referencing the Supreme Court’s ruling, DePiero said he reviewed the city’s code.

“To my surprise, I found we did not have any limitations or restrictions on this type of activity in our property and our parks, and based upon the vast amount of green space that we have, we thought it was prudent to introduce legislation to address this,” he told council members.

Council President George Horvat said public camping has not been a problem in Aurora, “but we want to make sure we stay ahead of it, because in several different other cities, there’s homeless people starting to get in their public parks and camping.”

In other council news:

• Also on Monday, council approved a $54,192 bill for American Made Coating to replace the surface coating of Aurora’s Splash Pad. Weather permitting, the pad will remain open through Sept. 15, Mayor Ann Womer Benjamin said.
  
• The police department is also slated to receive a 2025 Dodge Durango from Montrose Ford. Cost is $43,359, with funds to be drawn from the city’s capital improvement fund.
  
• City Council continued to postpone final approval of a $4.5 million purchase of part of the former SeaWorld amusement park and all of Geauga Lake, which Aurora intends to transform into a public park. Negotiations are ongoing, and there is progress, Horvat said. Aurora first began eyeing the property, owned by Industrial Commercial Properties Geauga Lake LLC, in June 2023.