Missoula City Council voted Monday to ban camping in city parks. The decision will tighten restrictions passed six months ago on where unhoused Missoulians can stay overnight.
The ban prohibits overnight stays in Missoula parks when it takes effect on New Year’s Day. Law enforcement is no longer required to warn people who may be violating the policy, and penalties have been increased from a municipal infraction to a misdemeanor. Unhoused people cited for breaching the ban will face a $50 fine.
City Council members supporting the new ban, like Amber Sherrill, said it’s intended to address community concerns about safety in parks. Sherrill said it’s a “mitigation effort.”
“It does not solve homelessness,” Sherrill said during a hearing on the ban. “People living unhoused in our community and country will exist until we have a complete, systemic funding change at the state and national level.”
The ban alters the city’s policy on homelessness passed in June. That ordinance created “buffer zones” where unhoused people could camp overnight on city property. But, some residents soon after began campaigning for councilors to exclude parks from the list of acceptable places to camp.
The majority of speakers at the meeting supported the ban. They said parks were intended for day-use recreation, not overnight stays that led to garbage buildup and safety concerns.
Opponent Clayton Shaya, an unhoused Missoulian, said the policy would endanger homeless people during the winter months and risk increasing city emergency services costs.
“How much is that going to fluctuate over the next couple months while people stand in the cold from five to eight, or in the freezing rain, or in two feet of snow, waiting to set up a tent that they no longer have space to set up?” Shaya asked.
City officials counted nearly 650 unhoused residents in October — more than Missoula’s shelter capacity. Bozeman city councilors also moved in October to ban urban camping along city streets starting late next year.
