The West Virginia House of Delegates passed a statewide camping ban aimed at homeless populations.
The homelessness issue has been a focal point for several local governments, including Morgantown, Clarksburg, Princeton and Bluefield.
“What I’m seeking to do here is create a uniform policy, instead of a cumbersome patchwork of differing laws and statutes across the entire state,” said Delegate Geno Chiarelli, the bill’s main sponsor,
“I think when we address the homelessness issue, the mental health crisis that we’re facing, I think that consistency in uniformity is something that has to be key.”
The bill passed the House on an 89-9 vote and now goes to the state Senate.
House Bill 2382 seeks to establish guidelines and consequences for unauthorized camping and storage on public lands in West Virginia. It does not necessarily ban sleeping on public property.
The bill describes maintaining public spaces by restricting those activities in instances where they interfere with public use or create health and safety risks.
Penalties for violations range from warnings to fines of up to $500 and potential jail time of up to 30 days in jail, with considerations for offering alternative shelter.
Chiarelli, R-Monongalia, said the bill would give communities a tool in dealing with homeless populations in public places.
“Our city is not the same as it was 10 years ago, and this is an issue that takes a lot of people working in sync. There’s a lot of moving parts, a lot of cogs that all have to turn at the same time and in the same way,” Chiarelli said.
“But this is one small piece that we can do to try and make our cities and our municipalities a better place to live, where some where people aren’t afraid to take their kids to the public library.”
Delegate David McCormick, R-Monongalia, said downtown Morgantown has changed to an extent that people don’t feel comfortable going there to relax and socialize.
“Frankly, you just can’t do it anymore. And you know, drugs are a huge problem. It’s a whole another issue,” McCormick said.
But you know, and I’ll just speak for Morgantown, there’s, multiple places and opportunities for these folks to seek shelter, and they don’t do it because there’s rules, there’s curfews, there’s things they have to do. So they choose — most of them, not all — but they choose to camp out in town. It’s ruined in our town, and I’m tired of it.”
Delegate John Williams, D-Morgantown, said the statewide approach is too broad when communities should be able to make their own decisions about how to approach such issues.
“My fear is that we are taking away that local control,” Williams said.
Williams noted that Morgantown has a local ballot measure next month on the issue of camps of homeless people.
“And after a lot of discussions with with a couple of my colleagues from Morgantown, it seems wrong for me at this juncture, to take away their right to address this issue when they have that opportunity just five, six short weeks from now to be able to give their opinion,” he said.
“And so I think we need to trust our local governments on this, particularly those who are already working on it, and those who are going to let their citizens speak on it.”