Fremont to vote on banning homeless camping in public spaces

FREMONT, Calif. - Fremont's City Council on Tuesday is set to vote on an ordinance that would make it unlawful for any person to camp on any public property including any street, sidewalk, park, open space, or waterway.

It would not prevent anybody from allowing someone to camp on private property. 

The ordinance also says it would make it a misdemeanor for any person causing, permitting, aiding, abetting, or concealing a violation of the ordinance. Violators would be subject to a fine of up to $1,000 and six months in jail. 

Fremont Mayor Raj Salwan says the council’s goal is to use enforcement only in extreme cases that threaten public safety.

"You can give food, you can give water, a tent, you can help people. The only thing you can’t do is, you can’t build tree houses on creeks," Salwan said. "You can’t build large structures which can be a fire hazard. They’re not safe for the community, and they’re also not safe for our unhoused individuals." 

Salwan says the city has reduced homelessness by 21% in the last two years, created 2,000 additional housing units and continues to offer services and resources for the unhoused. 

Still, some advocates say it seems homeless people are being penalized as well as the people trying to help them.

Josh Pettipiece says he’s been helping people at an encampment near the Fremont and Washington boulevards overpass for years. 

He was once homeless, but now serves the community as a part of the Melino Foundation based in Newark. 

Pettipiece says Fremont’s new ordinance will now allow homeless people and advocates to be penalized.

"It also says that anybody aiding and abetting could be caught in that category. It says they’re not going to target them, but it makes it legal for them to be able to," said Pettipiece. 

A city spokesperson says the term "aiding and abetting" is common language used by other cities regarding all code violations.