The updated ordinance puts in the city in line with a 2024 Supreme Court decision. (Photo: File)
Against the backdrop of decreased funding for services and an increased reliance on enforcement at the state and national levels, the City of Palm Desert Thursday voted 5-0 to consider ending the last few exceptions in the city’s camping ban by which homeless people might avoid fines for sleeping outside in Palm Desert.
Code Compliance & Support Services Manager Pedro Rodriguez said the updated language to the ban would allow police officers to “properly enforce and offer the resources necessary” upon first contact with a homeless person, “then take enforcement action if they refuse to take the resources that we have available.”
The updated ordinance penalizes people for camping on public property or private property open or accessible to the public. It ends any exceptions included in an earlier version such as 72-hour permits for some RVs. Additionally, such penalties are no longer appealable to the city manager if, as the earlier version had it, “in the interest of justice,” the person had no alternative and “the person cited did not substantially contribute to the circumstances necessitating camping.”
Since 2024, the Supreme Court has allowed cities to enforce camping bans such as Palm Desert’s even if a person has no alternative as long as they are enforced against everyone, not just homeless people. Under an earlier ruling, penalizing someone for sleeping outside with no alternative amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.
Mayor Evan Trubee said he often sees RVs parked by the Bump and Grind trail when riding his bike.
“I was questioning - why are they there?” he said. “But from now on they probably won’t be there. Okay, terrific.”
Earlier Thursday, the council studied the continued utility of such task forces as the Homeless Task force and Environmental Task force, both of which are set to be closed at a future council meeting.
The potential shuttering of the city’s Homelessness Task Force follows an expected decrease in homeless services funding from the state that was announced at the Homeless Task Force meeting in November.
Homeless and Supportive Services Manager Ivan Tenorio told the task force he anticipated the need to reduce the city’s current $170,000 in annual commitments to Coachella Valley homeless programs, the total of which is funded by the state.
At that meeting, the task force also recommended a reduction in city-provided shelter beds from five to three, in line with the observed usage rates for those beds.
Councilmember Karina Moreno (formerly Quintanilla) said she agreed with the suggestion to shutter the homelessness task force, but expressed concern about doing the same with the environmental resources committee.
“Our residents are the lifeblood of our city, and any opportunity that we are implementing cutting them off from having that direct engagement is putting a tourniquet where we don’t need it,” she said.
Separately, the council postponed an expected ruling on the appeal against the 156 single-family home Portola Springs project at the southwest corner of Frank Sinatra Drive and Portola Avenue. The appeal followed a similar appeal by the appellant Supporters Alliance for Environmental Responsibility (SAFER) based in Covina, CA, against the neighboring Catavina development, also by the same developer Washington-based Blue Fern LLC.
In a comment submitted Wednesday, lawyers for the appellant submitted an independent biological impact report prepared in support of the appeal. SAFER claimed that the amended MND failed to fully consider the impacts of the two projects together and effectively “piecemealed” the projects for the purposes of passing environmental reviews. The council did not say why they postponed the appeal.
Finally, the council voted to implement AB 346, the state’s Short Term Rental Facilitator Act, which allows cities to access data from short term rental websites like VRBO and AirBNB.
“This will help catch the ones that aren’t permitted with the city but are listed” on the websites as available, said Moreno.