The Eugene City Council voted six to one in an April 27 work session to adopt an ordinance increasing fines and adding jail time for unauthorized non-vehicular storage between the curb lines of city streets. The decision comes after police said people were not paying their fines or immediately removing their items.

The fine will increase from $250 to a maximum fine of $500 and up to 10 days in jail or both. Violators will receive the penalty if they committed a willful violation, meaning they have refused to fix the safety hazard after receiving notice from a police officer.

Housing advocates spoke out against the ordinance in a city council public hearing on April 18.

Roger Jensen, who runs a street outreach program called Bent Spoke, asked councilors to vote against the ordinance at the public hearing, saying the penalty would unfairly target unhoused people staying on the street.

“These people do not have options,” he said. “You cannot penalize them financially to motivate them because they don’t have the money.”

He said if people are forced to go to jail, their items may be stolen or picked up by the city. When they get out, “they’re starting from scratch again,” he said.

At the April 27 work session, Public Works Director Matt Rodrigues and councilors said the $250 fine has not been an effective tool in carrying out the city’s Vision Zero goals — an initiative to reduce transportation-related injuries and deaths.

Councilor Claire Syrett said residents and businesses in her ward asked her to support the ordinance. “They have a lot of tolerance, but there have been times and circumstances where these kinds of activities that this is trying to address have really just been untenable,” she said.

She said she recognizes the dynamics of people who think the city is criminalizing homelessness, but construction projects storing items on the streets are also an issue.

Councilor Mike Clark said he thinks the ordinance is a good idea, especially with regard to Vision Zero.

“I almost hit someone recently,” he said. “There was an encampment right to the curb’s edge with several tents, and I didn’t see until I had already passed it that there was someone sitting on the street in the bike lane and there were a bunch of parts of that camp that had come out onto the street.”

Clark also said he found a letter the Eugene Rights Commission wrote to the council troubling. The letter urged the city council to reject the ordinance, which it believes will violate human rights, unfairly target people of color and perpetuate inequity.

“Many Eugenians shelter on the street due to extreme poverty, lack of shelter and affordable housing and the fact that sheltering is prohibited in every other public space,” the letter said.

Clark said the commission’s opinions are wanted at all times because it is the commission’s job to advise the city council. “But I don’t see it as their job to fight us because they disagree with us,” he said.
Jensen, who used to be a resident and a volunteer at Eugene Mission — a non-profit shelter and service provider for unhoused people, said many safe sleep sites have long waiting lists, even if they have vacancy rates. They are also selective on who they take in and retain, he said.

Eugene Mission has a zero-tolerance policy for drugs, alcohol and marijuana consumption in or near the building, according to its website. Its transformational programs require clear drug and alcohol tests to enter and administer tests periodically.

Matt Keating, the only councilor who voted against the ordinance and a member of the Human Rights Commission, said the only way he would support its approval was to add an amendment increasing the amount of community service as well.

However, staff agreed that community service should be left up to a judge.