Multnomah County officials consider new camping ban

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – Multnomah County is reportedly considering establishing its own camping limits.

Portland and Gresham city officials met Tuesday to discuss how they will regulate camping within city limits.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss a possible district policy and how it would be enforced.

“Most county residents I have met expect a compassionate response to the homeless and want the county to provide them with shelter and housing.”

Both Portland and Gresham offered people shelter before forcibly removing them from the campgrounds.

Portland’s current camping ordinance went into effect in July.

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Under the law, people who refuse to provide shelter and stop camping in a place they have been asked to leave could be fined up to $100 or imprisoned for up to seven days.

The Town of Gresham does not issue fines for people camping in unauthorized areas, however, the Town of Gresham does have a policy prohibiting camping on all public lands within the Town limits that are not designated for camping.

Multnomah County Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards’ chief of staff, Eric Zimmerman, who is also a candidate for Portland City Council in District 4, has outlined a tentative timeline for developing legislation that could result in a new county police force by mid-November.

“The short summary of it is that we all saw camps that broke out on the street,” Zimmerman said. “There was trash strewn in every direction, lots of tents, sometimes fires to keep the house warm.”

Meanwhile, Commissioner Lori Stegman said she was not ready to comment on whether the county should have such a policy at all.