Sparks city officials have introduced an ordinance aimed at clearing out the growing number of homeless camps along the Truckee River corridor.
The ordinance, which was introduced Monday by the Sparks City Council, prohibits camping on public property within 350 feet of the shore of the river within city limits. A public hearing on the proposal has been set for the next council meeting on March 28. The council is scheduled to vote on the ordinance following the hearing.
“The ordinance gives us the tools to better address and mitigate the homeless encampments along the Truckee River in Sparks because we don’t have the tools in place to do that,” said Adam Mayberry, the city’s community relations manager. “It’s a very sensitive and difficult problem to solve. It’s not as simple as calling law enforcement and having them removed.”
Mayberry said that during the last year nearly every city department has received calls from people expressing public-safety and health concerns about the homeless camps along the river trail.
“We recognize that the trail along the river and the river itself are very important to people who live here,” he said. “And we want to make sure we project the integrity of that environment.”
The Sparks proposal, patterned after the city of Reno’s ordinance, bans camping from a half hour after sunset to sunrise. Camping, according to the measure, not only includes sleeping, but also means storing personal belongings, cooking, making a fire, and using a tent or other structure for sleeping.
Violating the camping restrictions is a misdemeanor offense. A person will not be cited for a violation unless a warning has been issued first by a law enforcement official.
City officials said the ordinance and the policies to implement it attempt to address the interests of the general public while recognizing individual rights, primarily the protection against unlawful seizure of personal property. They acknowledge it’s a delicate balancing act.
Mayberry said the homeless have property rights, so it’s not as simple as clearing out the camps and removing items. The issue, he said, also is not limited to law enforcement or city government but requires the involvement of mental-health and substance-abuse organizations.
Assistant City Attorney Shirle Eiting said the city is trying to ensure that the regulations provide adequate notice and preserve property rights by documenting items seized and allowing their owners to retrieve them.
“Our intention is not to cite or arrest people,” Eiting said. “It’s really to help clean this up.”
Nick Lee says
Hey HEY Oh OH.. City Manager Steve Driscoll got to go! If that is not possible.. at least.. have the decency to step off from the buffet line Stevie..
This homeless problem started to take hold on or about August of 2015.. and City of Sparks are now addressing this?
If these homeless camps were set up at Sparks Marina, it would have been solved right there and then in August 2015.. Heck.. the rangers there regularly harass seedy persons for loitering.
But we are talking about the Truckee River.. where City of Sparks treats (in my opinion) it like any back alley / vacant lot of an inner city parcel.
There is an ordinance on the books where already that prohibits over night camping..
S.M.C. 12.24.040.
If the Truckee River corridor in question is in the preview of Ward 1, Julie Radke,… she really blew it… and she has the guile to run for the vacancy of Debbie Smith under the premise she championed parks and recreation.. I digress.
The City Administration under current leadership.. is a DISASTER (Donald Trump)
Yes.. it is unfair to compare the progressive leadership of City of Reno and the many good happenings there…… but still when Sparks ( face it and yes.. it is a bedroom community to Reno) is compared to Carson City.. it still lags behind in so many ways.
If the City of Sparks is really sincere to treat this situation humanely.. they should have / could have provided portable toilets and dumpsters where these folks have homesteaded.. and not have trash litter all over and blowing in the wind.
And when clean up ever occurs.. a HAZMAT team will be required to restore the river banks.
Until the clean up is completed.. I would not be swimming at the Rock Park as it is one mile down river.. and any human waste / urine that make it way to the water would not be sufficiently diluted by then.. Think of the children..
The homeless camps.. It’s happening! and IT is here to stay.!
What is the City’s slogan again? Swish
frank patten says
The homeless camp across from the Grand Sierra was set up by homeless people from Reno when Reno began targeting illegal river camping.
It’s really unfair to blame Sparks for this problem. In fact, I believe Sparks has taken an enlightened approach. Rather than taking actions that would be illegal under the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the City of Sparks educated itself and passed a law that should meet legal muster in federal Court. They are beginning to implement the law through notification.
It’s also wrong to suggest that the camp is polluting the river with urine and feces. That is simply an attempt to stoke hysteria, and you have no facts to back up your statement.
Finally, let us note that homeless people are attracted to the River for the same reasons all of us are. The current camps are inappropriately located. Fighting homelessness requires the cooperation of all local government agencies, and it also requires community support.
Making this a police problem — and the police are doing a great job in both Reno and Sparks on this front — instead of a community problem is a selfish response..
Point the finger at yourself.
Nick Lee says
That is bunch of BS.. if what you wrote is true.. then let;s address what I wrote
1) Why is there no trash bins and/or portable johns provided for them?
2)..Why not expand the homeless camps to Sparks Marina? Afterall.. they have insisting infrastructure already in place to better handle this situation there..
3) I simply file you reply under.. NOT IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD..chant which is so typical.
4).. Yes I used a bit of sarcasm there about the human waste, etc. however, unless you are a qualified water quality expert, you too, can conclude what damage is being done to the quality of the water.. with roughly 30 homeless camps there..
5) Where do you live? Let me bring my dogs to pee and poop on your yard? I digress you will look the other way.
Sir.. you cannot fix stupid! and you fit nicely.
scott thompson says
selfish the the amount of garbage and stink that the people along the truckeeer dump on evyone else. marina park looked tent free every time ive been there …ehy not the truckee?? park designation?
scott thompson says
the bridge underneath the road near walmart along the trucker stinks of piss…flies congregate underneath it. ive ridden my bike under there many times.. ive been here 7 years and never seen this level of garbage and filth along the river. i will say again marina park has lots of real estate for the tents…yet they never show up there…the 9th amendment protects marina park and not the river???
ill send sparks 40 bucks to start gettin lots where these peole can set up their tents with some porta potties bought in for better control and assistance of so called homeless people. the river should be able to be enjoyed and savored by all for what it is and not blighty filth.
Dominic says
I used to go biking along the Truckee River for many years and it was a beautiful trail, having been for couple of years, then decided to go back last Saturday, I couldn’t believe how bad it looks now, homeless people on both sides of the Rock Park, not just tents and sleeping bags, but all their trash and hoarding stuffs, and the smell is unbearable! I got so disgusted after seeing that that I went back to my car and left! Is that really the best we can do to address this homeless issue, just let it go out of control?
Dale says
The homeless people need to be addressed, not the policing of the river, this means providing funds to go to housing, mental health, drug addiction and probably more that I am missing. The housing is a big one, I believe that mini houses are a great economic choice for elderly and homeless youth.