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City of Leander bans camping in public places
The City of Leander already had a similar ordinance on the books, but the city says this one goes a little further.
LEANDER, Texas - It's no secret that Leander, Texas is an ever-growing suburb. Even every now and then, they will have an issue with the homeless camping out in parks.
"Once a year or twice a year we will have an issue come up," said Leander Police Chief Greg Minton.
The city has had an ordinance on the books prohibiting camping in parks for years, but now city council just went an extra step further.
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"This is anywhere along the public roadways or right of ways, even some of the parking lots, city hall or businesses, there are provisions in there. The difference of what we had and what we have now is that it prohibits people from camping anywhere in public," said Minton.
If caught violating the new ordinance, you could face an up to $500 fine. However, Minton says the goal is not to hand out tickets.
"You know and I know writing a fine for somebody homeless, they don't have the money to pay it. Those tickets don't really do anything. This ordinance gives us the ability to be able to interact and say do you need some help," said Minton.
Minton said he knows a lot of the time there is a mental health crisis at hand with the homeless.
"We had a lady that was camping off one of the main roads on a property. We tried to get her assistance and she didn't want any assistance. You wouldn't know it by looking at her but she is a veteran and suffering from PTSD issues and that's tough. Luckily we found her some help," said Minton.
Councilmember Jason Shaw said at the meeting addressing the homeless with some care is the key to success.
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"We don't want camping we don't want to perpetuate a homeless problem so we need to address that but we need to look toward the future like other cities do when this problem creeps up on them," said Shaw.
"We have to have something on the books but our goal is helping people," said Minton.
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