Over the Moon Pub and Pizza owner Mike Walsh, left, asks about the timeline for when the city of Marietta will introduce legislation banning camping on city owned property as other downtown Marietta business owners watch during a Planning, Zoning, Housing and Annexation and Public Lands and Buildings Committees joint meeting Monday night. (Photo by Michelle Dillon)

Marietta City Council discussed possibly enacting a camping ban on city-owned property as a way to address business owner complaints about homeless people and a subrecipient agreement with the Washington County Homeless Project related to its homeless drop-in center on Front Street.

During a Planning, Zoning, Annexation and Housing (PZAH) and Public Lands and Buildings Committees joint meeting Monday, council decided to request legislation to ban camping on public property in Marietta and to require in a new subrecipient agreement with the Washington County Homeless Project that there must be a security person at the homeless drop-in center run by the project.

At the meeting, Ward 2 Councilman and PZAH Chair Bret Allphin said council needed to “have a conversation around camping in city parks.”

The matter was added to the agenda by Mayor Joshua Schlicher, according to Allphin.

The issue of camping in public parks was recently decided in a Supreme Court case, City of Grants Pass vs. Johnson, where the court said it was unconscionable to do things based on a person’s status, like homelessness, but the court ruled in favor of a city’s power to control its own property, health, sanitation and crime issues, according to Marietta Law Director Paul Bertram.

He said Grants Pass’ ordinance prohibits camping on public property in the city including streets, sidewalks, easements, parks, parking lots, public grounds and right-of-ways.

Bertram said he will write a camping ban ordinance and get back with council so they can see it and that the things listed in Grants Pass’ ordinance “are things that we can use when putting this together.”

Big cities have problems with homelessness, Bertram said, and the city of Marietta has the same problems the big cities do.

“They just have a lot more money and they have a lot more population to deal with than we do … It’s only going to get worse I believe and I think we need to seriously look at the possibility of following the city of Grants Pass’ ordinance, with some tweaking, he said.

Schlicher shared information on the city’s recent efforts to decrease camping in city parks. He said the city has added more signs to Muskingum Park listing the park’s off hours, 11 p.m.-6 a.m. when no one can be in the park.

All parks in Marietta have these off hours where no one can be in the park except Indian Acres Park has different rules, according to Schlicher.

At-Large Councilman Jon Grimm expressed concern over adding exceptions to a possible camping ban for events.

He said if the city is going to limit camping it also has to make provisions for things like the Ohio Sternwheel Festival.

Bertram said Grants Pass’ ordinance has exceptions for special events and the Sternwheel Festival gets a permit from the city for camping and they charge people to put their campers there. He said this would be an exception to a camping ban.

Ward 1 Councilman Michael Scales asked Bertram what the penalty would be for violating the possible camping ban.

Bertram said the Grants Pass ordinance has a fine of $50. Then Scales asked what would happen if a person didn’t have the $50 or refused to pay it.

Bertram said they could work it off the fine through community service or some other way and a person would have to deal with a judge if they did not comply.

Bertram also pointed out that people would not go to jail under a camping ban but instead they could possibly go to jail under trespassing on private property through the Ohio Revised Code.

Scales said if the city incarcerates anyone under a local ordinance then the city would have to pay for the care of that person and Bertram confirmed that would be the case.

“My recommendation is not have jail time,” Bertram said.

“My recommendation is a fine, community service, whatever the court deems fit.”

At-Large Councilman Ben Rutherford expressed his view that the city needed a set mechanism to help homeless people move from homeless to employed or a place to stay.

“We’ve got services that are geared directly toward (them) … that shepherd those one way or another as opposed to them redepositing themselves back into these locations where we don’t want them … We need to at least find a space for them to go as a way out,” he said. “We’re going to perpetuate the problem otherwise.”

The camping ban is important but the city cannot “arrest our way out of this situation … the solution is not to just arrest them … there’s a continuum of other services in the community we need to consider,” Allphin said.

Marietta business owners located near the drop-in center spoke about the camping ban at the meeting.

Two Peas in a Pod Owner Randy Kiggans, whose store is located a few buildings down from the drop-in center, on Front Street, talked about his views on the issue of homeless people in Marietta.

“My concern is we’ll end up like Parkersburg,” he said.

There was a tent city on East Street, according to Kiggans, and the city had to clean it up and take out semi loads of trash during the cleanup.

He said they need to figure out a way to help people but they don’t need tents set up on the river or somewhere else.

Owner of Over the Moon Pizza and Pub Mike Walsh asked Bertram for a timeline for when a draft of a camping ban would be complete.

“As soon as possible,” Bertam said. “This is something that can not really wait. I mean this is a top priority for me … I want to get this to people so we can have further discussion.”

“So this year?” Walsh asked. “Next year?”

Bertram said this year much earlier than the end of the year.

Council also discussed a subrecipient agreement through which the city gives the Washington County Homeless Project money to help with the rent for the homeless drop-in center it runs at 274 Front St.

The agreement is up for renewal and the Washington County Homeless Project receives $10,000 through it, according to Allphin.

During a Sept. 3 PZAH Committee meeting, several business owners located near the drop-in center shared concerns they had for safety in relation to the center. The issues included noise, people yelling or cursing, people bothering business’ employees, people camping at or behind businesses on Front and Second streets and more.

“I asked for feedback after the Sept. 3 meeting,” Allphin said, and he received 15 emails with varying opinions.

He said the general character of the emails is that the drop-center needs to be moved but the discussion council is having is about whether they should require security as part of the subrecipient agreement.

“My inclination is we do want to put security into the agreement,” Allphin said.

Ward 3 Councilman Bill Gossett said he does think the city should require security of some sort at the drop-in center as part of the subrecipient agreement.

“I think we need to go further,” Grimm said, suggesting a camera should be used for security.

Allphin clarified for Grimm that the city would be asking for a security person.

Grimm said a lot of the problems with homeless people in the city are happening outside and not inside the drop-in center so he does not know to what extent the city can hold the drop-in center responsible for the problems, but he still supports requiring security.

“I think a security presence will at least reduce” the issues, he said.

Allphin agreed with Grimm saying he made a fair point and then shared information about what the response has been from the Washington County Homeless Project about requiring security.

“I did talk to (Washington County Homeless Project Chair Robin Bozian) about this and … it’s a financial hardship for them … they don’t have a security issue in her opinion inside the facility,” Allphin said. “Now I agree, but I didn’t want to be foolish enough to say that if we require security it;s going to solve an issue by the golf course. I don’t want folks to think that by doing this there isn’t going to be any misconduct in the park. That’s unlikely it’s going to make that kind of impact. It does help for the safety of those who are in (the drop-in center).”

At-Large Councilman Harley Noland said he believes forcing the Washington County Homeless Project to hire a security presence in the drop-in center is not going to solve the business owners’ complaints.

Grimm said a security presence in tandem with increased police patrol or police presence in the area, as long as it is warranted by things going on in the area would, “at least improve the situation.”

Council President Susan Vessels suggested an addition to the subrecipient agreement, asking that no smoking be allowed in the area of the drop-in center because property owners have had to move products from their store rooms because they smell like marijuana smoke due to people smoking marijuana near the drop-in center. Grimm suggested putting in not allowing drug use in the subrecipient agreement.

Allphin said he wasn’t sure how much latitude they have with the agreement.

Rutherford echoed what business owners said about the drop-in center during the Sept. 3 meeting, that the drop-in center shouldn’t be on Front Street.

“The street that is the location is the wrong location,” Rutherford said. “Period.”

Allphin told council that he doesn’t think the city has the ability to “just coldly” make the center move and that is not what council is at the meeting to talk about, even though it is in a “less than optimal location.”

Allphin said he is going to recommend that security be added to the subrecipient agreement and he will request legislation for it and he will also request legislation for a camping ban.

He said council can continue the conversation about the camping ban once there is a draft of the legislation.

There was no mention about which council meeting at which the camping ban or the subrecipient agreement will be discussed.

The next city council meeting is 7:30 p.m. Oct. 3 in Room 10 of the Marietta Armory.