'No more excuses': Newsom calls for cities to adopt plan banning homeless encampments

Yahoo

12-05-2025

Gov. Gavin Newsom is urging cities and counties in California to adopt a model ordinance he released on Monday that makes encampments unlawful as part of efforts to address 'decades of inaction on homelessness.'
The announcement comes as $3.3 billion in funding will be made available Monday for communities to address homelessness, according to a news release.
The model ordinance, which is described as a 'starting point' and something local officials can adjust in creating their own policies, builds on Newsom's executive order last year that called for state agencies and departments to address encampments on state property.
Newsom is now calling on 'every local government to adopt and implement local policies without delay.'
'There's nothing compassionate about letting people die on the streets,' Newsom said in a statement. 'Local leaders asked for resources — we delivered the largest state investment in history. They asked for legal clarity — the courts delivered.
'Now, we're giving them a model they can put to work immediately, with urgency and with humanity, to resolve encampments and connect people to shelter, housing, and care. The time for inaction is over. There are no more excuses.'
Newsom's model ordinance laid out what is unlawful when it pertains to encampments, such as constructing or maintaining any semi-permanent structure on public property that's used for shelter.
Also unlawful is for people to camp on public property for more than three consecutive days or nights in the same location as well as to camp within 200 feet of any posted notice to vacate or other official signage related to clearing out an encampment or prohibiting camping in that location.
People also cannot sit, sleep, lay or camp on any public street, road, bike path or sidewalk that prevents passage 'within the meaning of the American Disabilities Act.'
Acknowledging that specific policies may vary for communities, all local approaches should reflect three principles that the model ordinance embodies, the ordinance read. Those principles are that people should not face criminal punishment for sleeping outside when they have nowhere else to go; encampment policies 'must prioritize shelter and services' while ensuring people, and their belongings, are treated with respect; and that policies must not 'unduly limit' local authority to clear encampments.
'Officials must be able to enforce common-sense policies to protect the health and safety of their residents and maintain their public spaces,' the ordinance read. 'When officials lack appropriate tools, encampments persist, endangering the health and safety of those living in and alongside them.'
The model ordinance also provided an approach for what communities must do before enforcement, including posting a notice to vacate at least 48 hours prior to enforcement. Another stipulation is that city officials should make 'every reasonable effort' to provide the people living at the encampment with emergency shelter or other appropriate housing and supportive services.
The model ordinance also describes what to do in more emergency circumstances and how to handle personal belongings at an encampment site.
It's estimated that 187,084 people in California experienced homelessness last year, according to the Public Policy Institute of California, citing data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Paris Barraza is a trending reporter covering California news at The Desert Sun. Reach her at [e-mail].
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Newsom urges cities to adopt ordinance banning homeless encampments