Anaheim moves forward on toughening laws affecting homeless people

A homeless man sits on the sidewalk in Newport Beach.

By Gabriel San Roman

Daily Pilot

Oct. 10, 2024 9:05 AM PT

Homeless people in Anaheim may soon be banned from sleeping on sidewalks, selling bike parts at parks or even smoking near bus stops.

The sweeping changes were approved by the Anaheim City Council on Tuesday with an initial unanimous vote.

“We are creating ordinances to further enhance the toolbox for our law enforcement to better serve our city, but it really is also a comprehensive approach,” said Councilwoman Natalie Rubalcava. “These ordinances, although some people may feel that they are heavy-handed, they’re really necessary things for us to keep our community safe.”

Last month, council members Rubalcava and Natalie Meeks asked city staff to review how it could strengthen its laws governing the use of parks and rights-of-way after the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled anticamping bans are constitutional.

Anaheim first passed a camping ban in 2014 as tent encampments popped up at public parks around the city. The law prohibits people from putting up tents and storing personal property.

In strengthening the city’s enforcement hand, a new law also seeks to ban people from leaving property or lying down on sidewalks, bus benches or medians.

Citing an average of 255 bicycle thefts per year in Anaheim, another ordinance targets bicycle “chop shops,” where bikes are disassembled and sold for parts at public parks.

Shoring up the changes, Anaheim is looking to update its smoking ban to include public parks. Smoking of cigarettes, cannabis and vape pens would also be prohibited with 25 feet of public bus stops and within 100 feet of any school or day care facility.

“These proposed ordinances apply to everyone in the city,” said City Atty. Rob Fabela. “However, we recognize that they will likely impact those who are unhoused and are using our public rights-of-way as living spaces.”

According to the latest homeless count, 1,417 unhoused people live in Anaheim, with 601 of them unsheltered.

In considering the changes, Anaheim joined several other Orange County cities that have sought to strengthen their enforcement hand after the Supreme Court ruling.

Newport Beach recently banned storing public property on sidewalks and beefed up its anticamping law to include people sleeping in their cars.

Duane Roberts, a longtime Anaheim resident and blogger, criticized Anaheim’s proposed sidewalk law as a potential affront to civil liberties and urged council members to table discussion.

He considered the exception for people who sit on the sidewalk “for purposes of viewing a legally conducted parade or similar lawful or permitted event” to be too broad and vague.

“It ignores the fact that the 1st Amendment does give people the right to sit on a sidewalk if they are engaged in free speech activities,” Roberts said. “Somebody could set up a movable chair and table on the sidewalk in front of City Hall and distribute political or religious literature.”

Anaheim Resort hoteliers spoke in favor of the changes.

“We need to take back our bus stops,” said Laura Watkins, general manager of the Best Western Plus hotel. “[Housekeepers] are petrified to go out to the bus stop in front of my property because of the element that is at the bus stop.”

Another hotelier echoed those concerns and claimed that unhoused people in the resort area were increasingly coming from outside the county.

Council members found general agreement with the need for enhanced enforcement and stressed the city’s efforts in recent years to provide services and shelter to unhoused people.

Last month, Anaheim became the third city in Orange County to partner with CalOptima’s street medicine program.

“We’re moving forward in an ethical way,” said Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken. “But we are maintaining that responsibility to our residents and to our communities that we will keep you safe.”

Anaheim police and code enforcement officers would have discretion to enforce the new laws with either a citation or a misdemeanor arrest. Shelter, housing and health diversion services are also slated to be made available as an alternative after detention.

“This is a balanced approach,” said Anaheim Police Chief Rick Armendariz. “We’re still providing services. We’re still wanting to make sure that people are connected with services. However, for those individuals that refuse, for those individuals that continue to violate the law, we will enforce the law.”

A second vote on the new ordinances is slated for Oct. 29. If passed, the bans would take effect in late November.

San Roman writes for the Daily Pilot.