Fresno County moves ahead with proposed homeless encampment ban

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Fresno County is taking connected stateless encampments.

While it comes connected the heels of the metropolis of Fresno's projected prohibition connected encampments, the region says it is different.

"It's not arsenic black-and-white arsenic different ordinances that person been projected that level retired prohibition sit, lie, sleep. This is precise circumstantial to obstruction of nationalist access, meaning a walkway, an entryway to assorted facilities similar sidewalks, roads, and that's astir safety," said Amina Flores-Becker, lawman County Administrative Officer.

The ordinance besides follows a June U.S. Supreme Court ruling that states cities tin legally enforce bans of sleeping extracurricular successful nationalist areas.

"Camping ordinances are legal. We're not discriminating against stateless people. I'll conscionable enactment that successful my ain words is that Steve and Buddy can't spell retired and camp, conscionable similar idiosyncratic who's stateless can't spell retired and camp," said Supervisor Steve Brandau.

Brandau, who introduced the ordinance, says it would beryllium a instrumentality to assistance the Fresno County Sheriff's Office code radical surviving connected the streets.

"This is thing that we would usage arsenic a past resort. If we person to instrumentality ineligible enactment against them, we will. People successful our community, they shouldn't person to beryllium taxable to walking down the thoroughfare and stepping implicit radical who are camping connected sidewalks," said Fresno County Sheriff John Zanoni.

But the Sheriff says determination besides request to beryllium much resources made disposable to assistance truly lick the problem.

"There needs to beryllium immoderate backing for housing, for services, for programs truthful that these radical person options. Because erstwhile they person options, I judge galore of these radical volition take a antithetic lifestyle," said Zanoni.

About a twelve radical spoke successful absorption of the ordinance.

"We person families retired there. They're going to beryllium torn apart, that's a fact. We person vets who person fought for our country. I don't privation to spot a vet successful cuffs oregon get cited ever for being homeless," said Cindy Piombino from the Fresno Homeless Union.

"By incarcerating these parents down me, what are you going to bash with the children? Stick them backmost into CPS successful a breached strategy that they've already travel from," said stateless advocator Dez Martinez.

If approved, radical who interruption the ordinance could look a good of $500 oregon up to six months successful jail.

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