FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A homeless encampment ban set to go into effect in the City of Fresno on Sept. 12 has been pushed back.
According to Fresno City Councilmember Garry Bredefeld, Mayor Jerry Dyer was given a few days to veto the ordinance and decided not to, moving the date of the ban.
The encampment ordinance is one the latest actions the council has taken within the past few weeks targeting the homeless. Last month, council members introduced an ordinance to target a growing squatter problem. Last week, Fresno City Council passed a trespassing ordinance that aims to remove people from private property.
In response, local advocates held a community rally in front of city hall on Sunday.
Dez Martinez, an advocate for the unhoused and one of the rally’s organizers, said events like these are important to help fight stereotypes.
“We are not that homeless woman. That homeless man. We are human. We’re homeless and we’re not invisible. And we’re tired of being invisible to the world,” she said.
Martinez said the recent ordinances approved by city council, including the encampment ban, restrict options for people without a home.
“There’s actually no place for any of the unhoused to be, let alone this ordinance that covers the whole community of Fresno City,” she explained.
The homeless encampment ordinance makes sitting, lying, or camping on public property illegal. Violators could face a $500 dollar fine. If the offense is ongoing, they could serve up to six months in jail.
Luke Tran with the Fresno Police Department said the new ordinance gives officers more legal ground to stand on when it comes to enforcement.
“Sometimes they had to commit a crime before we could actually do something like a serious crime or even maybe just theft. But now we have the ordinance that allows us to move them off the property,” he said.
The ordinance will now go into effect on September 23.