HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-19-23 Public Comment - B. Hughes - Urban Camper Ordinance - Public CommentFrom:Breanna Hughes
To:Agenda
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Urban Camper Ordinance - Public Comment
Date:Tuesday, September 19, 2023 1:19:39 AM
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Hello, all! I sent the email below back in August, but since the vote was pushed off, I would
like to send my same thoughts from last month with some important additions.
My name is Breanna Hughes and I have lived in the Sundance at Baxter Meadows communityfor well over a year now. I understand there will be a vote tomorrow regarding an
ordinance addressing the urban campers. To the best of my knowledge, if more significantchanges haven't been made, this ordinance would require that campers move every five days
(or the new specified amount of time) to a different location and would also forbid campingadjacent to residences, schools, and daycares. Since this vote is not open to the public, I would
love the opportunity to express my opinions and voice my concerns. I do not wish to list abunch of complaints, but I do wish to list examples of what I witness on a day to day basis.
Over the last year, Sundance at Baxter Meadows has become surrounded on all sides by urban
campers. What started as a single adjacent road occupied with campers, has now turned intoevery road leading in or out of our complex being completely full of campers, RVs, buses,
tents, trailers, lawn mowers, etc. Many nuisances have come with this influx of people:electrical lines and other cords laying across the roads, generators and other equipment
running loudly at all hours of the day, loud music, yelling, and large, overhead lights at allhours of the night. Vehicles and tents are blocking electrical boxes, parked on walkways, in
the grass, etc.
Additionally, before the "Do Not Park on This Side" signs were posted in order for the snowplows to plow efficiently over the winter, each side of the street was full of double parked
cars, trucks, campers, RVs, etc. This left some of the roads literally impassable. If anything,only one car could squeeze past at a time.
Back in August, urban campers were not usually double parked. However, since I first sent
these thoughts in August, some of the roads have yet again become filled with double parkedcars, trailers, etc. Vehicles are not able to pass through one of the roads adjacent to our
complex at this time. Another main road is difficult to pass through with all of the cars,landscaping trailers, trash, etc. Now, with the lack of space on the exit and entrance roads into
our complex, the urban campers are overflowing within yards of our paid parking lots,sidewalks, and communal complex areas.
The unsightly and environmentally unfriendly aspects of urban camping include abandoned
trash (even with the presence of some trash receptacles) and piles upon piles of abandonedfurniture. One couch in the field next to my apartment turned into five couches, pillows,
chairs, desks, etc. Since I first sent these comments in August, many couches and other piecesof abandoned furniture have been dumped in our communal complex spaces. It is no longer
contained to the camper streets.
There is also the concern of animal and human waste. Last summer, one of the campers had a
large horse and a goat. I frequently came across animal waste in the road and in the fields nextto our complex. Additionally, this prompts the question: if the animals are freely going to the
bathroom in the road and the fields, where is the human waste being dumped? Most of theseRVs, trucks, tents, campers, etc. do not move, as they do not even have wheels, so I can only
assume it is being dumped right where they park. I know of 3 dogs, in addition to my own,who have stepped in or rolled in human waste while walking or playing. Lastly, more recently,
the urban campers have taken it upon themselves to landscape with their own mowingequipment, leaving the scraps, branches, etc. on the side of the road or even in the middle of
the road.
With all of this said, the biggest concern I have is safety. As a young female, I am alreadyconstantly fighting an uphill battle regarding my personal safety on a daily basis. When I'm
home, I take all of the precautions and safety measures to ensure my dog and I are safe.However, I cannot control the impact these urban campers have on my comfortability and
safety in my own home and community. My concerns started last summer when I noticedsome concerningly large fires being set night after night. But, over time, things have escalated
and the police presence has increased. While walking my dog during the day and at night, Ihave experienced cars driving extremely fast and doing burnouts in our private, paid parking
lot. There have been fights and frequent yelling, including a fight between two females whoverbally threatened each other with guns (guns were not present, just spoken about). I cannot
even walk down a particular street anymore because of how frequently I was approached andsometimes even heckled by the urban campers living next to the sidewalk I used to frequently
walk on for exercise. I take measures to make sure I am prepared to defend myself ifnecessary, but, in my own home and complex, why should I have to constantly worry about
this?
Since I sent these comments in August, some of the urban campers have taken it uponthemselves to use our complex's sidewalks and parking lots as public walkways and cut
throughs. Whether that be on bikes, on foot, on motorized vehicles, in cars, etc., they are nowusing our private, paid complex as a public space. Our complex is tight-knit and having
strangers meandering and coming and going as they please is unnerving.
A new concern has come up this summer with escalating crime. I was informed last summerof campers with active warrants for their arrest, but I did not witness police activity in
reference to this. However, this summer there were urban campers scaling our apartmentbuilding and stealing power from what they thought was an empty apartment. They climbed
our building and plugged in their generators and other cords into the outdoor outlets. Mostrecently, a bus parked in our private parking lot and the police informed us the two urban
campers living in this bus had warrants for their arrest. While I was home alone, one of thesecampers attempted to evade police by running into our complex and ended up being arrested
right underneath my open back door. The suspect was not compliant and the police needed todraw weapons in order to apprehend him. If you can imagine, this could have gone horribly
wrong and really scared me.
Now, over the past month, since the date the last vote was supposed to occur, myself and otherpeople in my complex have found dirty needles and syringes in the fields next to our complex
and even in the roads. I don't think I even need to explain the danger this poses, not only to ourpets, but to the children in this complex.
I encourage you to look at my concerns from the viewpoint of a young female or even as the
parents, grandparents, etc. of young females. Please consider if you would want your daughter,granddaughter, niece, wife, etc. to be constantly exposed to this. I am confined now to certain
limits in my complex at this point to preserve my safety and, now, even that isn't safe. This hasspilled into our private complex and communal spaces. I don't even feel comfortable simply
walking my dog alone anymore.
I pay a large portion of my hard earned money to live here and I want so badly to be able tosay that our complex is clean and safe. However, at this point, the urban campers have become
so abundant and invasive that I can no longer confidently say that.
Originally, the ordinance stated urban campers would need to move every five days, but now,is that changing to once a year for yearly street cleaning? Every 14 days? Anything longer
than five days allowed in one spot is too long. They shouldn't be allowed to do this in thisproximity to residences anyway.
To my best understanding, the ordinance will now be constructed in a way that clean,
compliant urban campers will be allowed to remain in their space. Does this still mean theywill be able to remain in this close proximity to residences, businesses, construction zones,
etc.? They will now be given a timeframe to come into compliance and will be fined if they donot comply within a certain timeframe? Who is going to regulate these timeframes? What will
stop someone from just accruing fines on top of fines and doing nothing to comply with thestandards set by the ordinance? Is there going to be criminal prosecution for a certain amount
of unpaid fines?
Where will these proposed "green zones" be? Still next to residences, business, child carecenters, etc.? I live within yards of the Bozeman Montessori school and the masses of urban
campers live within yards of my home, so not only are they currently next to my residence, butnext to a children's school. How can this even be allowed to happen so close to a school with
an over abundance of trash, needles, waste, etc.?
If these green zones will have port-o-potties and dumpsters, who is going to maintain those?Will trash and human waste just continue to accumulate like it currently is, but now it will just
be in a provided receptacle? I can only imagine the hygiene issues and odor this "solution"will result in. Yes, is it better than the campers dumping their trash and waste in the field and
streets next to my home? Yes. But, what are the logistics of the upkeep of these bathrooms anddumpsters?
Safety officers will potentially carry out checks to see if the vehicles are mobile and in
working condition? If you explore the streets next to our complex, you will see very quicklythat the majority of these urban campers do not move their vehicles, if they even are in a
vehicle. A lot of the campers, trailers, RVs, aren't even on wheels, they are on wood blocksand physically not even able to be towed or moved. There are tents and vehicles without
wheels. These urban campers are not moving and do not have plans to. I live next to and seethese same vehicles every single day - they do not move. The only ones I see moving are the
new ones coming to park closer and closer to my front door.
With all of this said, I am not putting a label on the entirety of urban campers. A very smallportion are peaceful, clean, and keep to themselves. However, the problem has become
overwhelming and overbearing. The urban campers around Sundance have encroached on ourprivate property that we pay to live in, park at, and maintain. The roads that lead to and from
our complex cannot be a permanent residence for them. I do not know what the long-termanswers and logistics are to helping these people find solutions, but I do know that while the
city makes this plan, tax-paying, law-abiding Montana residents should not have to suffer as aresult. We respect our neighbors in this Sundance community and the land that we live on and
the urban campers should be held to the same standard. If that means they will be required tomove every 5 days and will not be able to reside next to residences like ours, then I believe
that is a great start to finding a successful compromise for everyone.
Homelessness is not a crime. I believe Commissioner Christopher Coburn mentioned lastmonth that this ordinance is "essentially criminalizing homelessness." If you actually read the
proposed ordinance, which you would hope a commissioner would do before making such aludicrous statement, that is just simply false. We don't want to punish or criminally pursue
these urban campers for being homeless. We want to support our fellow neighbors and helpprovide solutions, but this situation needs to be regulated and there needs to be order and
structure - just like we all have in our apartment complexes, in our homes and HOAs, etc. AllBozeman citizens have a responsibility to rules and regulations, safety, and cleanliness - why
should urban campers be held to a different standard?
Homelessness does not need to equate to the absolutely dangerous, unkempt chaos we are allcurrently living in. There are ways to bring order and minimal standards to this situation. You
are the elected officials responsible for taking action, so please do something. If you won'trequire permits for camping in the city limits, if you won't make this type of unhygienic and
dangerous situation unlawful, then do something, anything. If you don't wish to act, pleasecome visit our apartment complex for a day or two. It's easy to not want to vote in favor of this
ordinance when you don't witness these issues every single day. If you were exposed as oftenas we are in this apartment complex, this would become personal to you, your families, and
pets and I guarantee you would feel very strongly compelled to act. Please do something.
Thank you so much for your time and allowing me this platform to voice my opinion.
Sincerely, Breanna Hughes