Homeless Camping Ban Appears To Die in NC General Assembly, for Now
On June 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed cities and states to ban camping and sleeping in public. Since the landmark City of Grants Pass v. Johnson decision, over a hundred localities have passed ordinances banning homeless people from camping or sleeping in public, according to the National Homeless Law Center.
Several states, including Kentucky, Florida and Georgia, have signed statewide bans into law. North Carolina could have been next; but two days before the Supreme Court ruling’s anniversary, the legislation proposing such a ban quietly died.
Last month, House Bill 781 won the state House’s approval in a 69-42 vote that had several legislators cross party lines. But after the Senate received the bill, it sat on it until adjourning on Thursday, without even assigning it to a committee.
For the remainder of the year, the Senate will only consider policy bills related to the budget, elections or disaster recovery, per their adjournment resolution. That effectively spells the end for HB78 — at least for this session. But policies that don’t quite make it across the finish line often return in future sessions, so it may not be the last time North Carolina lawmakers see a proposed public camping and sleeping ban.
If it does make a resurgence, several advocates and municipalities told Carolina Public Press one particular aspect of the bill is unlikely to work: a provision allowing local governments to designate a property meeting certain criteria as a temporary public camping and sleeping area for people who are homeless to stay.
‘Criminalizing homelessness’ or offering guidance?
In 2023, nine out of every 10,000 North Carolinians experienced homelessness, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness. In 2024, the number of people experiencing homelessness rose 19%, according to a Department of Housing & Urban Development report.
Some areas, like Buncombe and Mecklenburg counties, have higher rates of homelessness.
North Carolina city managers and local law enforcement need help to address the growing homelessness problem, state Rep. Brian Biggs, R-Randolph, said in May when explaining House Bill 781 to fellow lawmakers.
It doesn’t “criminalize homelessness,” he said, but rather offers some beginning direction for local governments to respond.
If passed, the bill would have prohibited people from setting up tents or bedding, storing personal belongings or otherwise sleeping outdoors. Camping for recreational purposes would not have been impacted.
Under the proposal, local governments might have been sued if they allowed people to “regularly engage” in public camping or sleeping. However, each local government would have been allowed to create a temporary designated zone for people to publicly camp and sleep, as long as each area met certain criteria.
Designated zones would have had to include access to clean restrooms and running water, be safe and secure, provide access to behavioral health services, including substance abuse and mental health treatment, ban drug or alcohol use on the property, and be located in a place away from residential areas that wouldn’t negatively impact the property value of nearby property.
There was no state funding attached to the bill restricting camping and creating the designated areas restrictions.
Alyce Knaflich, founding director of a women veterans home in Asheville, doesn’t see how local governments could pay for all of this, especially considering all the rules designated zones would have needed to follow.
“I have a problem with how they’re going to arrange this,” she said. “With all the expense of making this happen, why aren’t we just providing a place, a residence to live?”
Biggs said municipalities could divert the money they’re already spending on street cleaning and emergency services related to homelessness to pay for a designated zone.
“This is not an Ozempic shot,” Biggs said. “You’re not going to lose 100 pounds taking this. It’s not going to be a fix-all, but it is guidance and gives framework for cities moving forward of how to deal with this.”
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