‘Camping’ In Grand Junction Could Soon Be Illegal

A new city ordinance would make overnight stays in parks against the law.

Not just overnight stays, sleeping on a park bench or along the River Front trail would also be against the law. No sleeping would be allowed on sidewalks either. The new Grand Junction City ordinance would also allow law enforcement to remove anyone camping if there is a perceived threat to public safety.

It's obviously not a band on 'camping.' It's another law in the continued effort to manage the homeless. If you force persons from public property, won't that force them onto private property? In turn, wouldn't that make a difficult situation even more stressful?

The other question is how can you really enforce a law like this? If law enforcement forces someone to break camp, then what? A closer look at the draft says the city will not enforce 'cruel and unusual punishment or criminalize homelessness.' If that's the case, what's going?

Forcing those on the streets into shelters has its limits too. Homeward Bound says they'll continue to help everyone they can but there's only so much space. They do have a new facility in the works. It's excepted to be ready later this year.

Credit: KKCO11News