AURORA | City attorneys will work in the coming weeks to draft a ban on unauthorized camping similar to Denver’s, to dissuade Denver’s homeless from migrating into Aurora.
The draft ordinance will come before Aurora City Council members for discussion in July.
Members of council’s Public Safety Committee are backing the idea, saying homeless camping is not a problem now, but they want to address it before it becomes an issue.
“I think you can’t be too careful,” said Councilwoman Marsha Berzins, a member of the committee.
Councilman Bob Roth said he received comments from about 15 of his Ward V constituents saying they were concerned about homeless people from Denver coming to Aurora, and they thought city officials should pursue a camping ban like Denver’s.
Denver’s ban, which prohibits anyone from unauthorized camping on public or private city land carries a potential $999 fine and a year in jail, and went into effect May 29, according to the Denver Post. Boulder also has a similar ban.
Aurora doesn’t have a general anti-camping ordinance that applies city-wide, it does have policies that prohibit staying overnight in city parks and prohibit loitering overnight in the Colfax Corridor, according to city attorneys.
Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said it’s too early to tell whether Denver’s new law has had any impact on Aurora, but some of the police officers that patrol the Colfax corridor of Aurora are concerned about the Denver law’s effects.
Some city officials say they don’t expect Denver’s homeless to come to Aurora because there’s nothing here for them.
“At this point we don’t have any of the things that would really be big draws for these populations like shelters and soup kitchens,” said City Manager George “Skip” Noe.
Local homeless advocates disagree, saying they expect the homeless to cross the border into Aurora.
At Aurora Warms the Night, which gives hotel vouchers to homeless people on the coldest nights, executive director Mary Hupp said in May she expects a Denver ban to push some homeless east across Yosemite, which divides the two cities.
“If we have different rules on one side of Yosemite, it may encourage a flow of people back and forth,” she said.
Reach reporter Sara Castellanos at 720-449-9036 or sara@aurorasentinel.com.
This is ridiculous.
As it stands now we have laws in place that treat dogs and animals better than human beings. Councilpersons Roth and Berzins sounds like you been watching a little too much AMC’s,” The Walking Dead”….Maybe a little compassion instead of condemning is in order. Amazing how we have no political correctness at all on speaking of the homeless of all races and gender as if they are less than human, yet mention the fact of the large number of illegals living, working and many committing all types of crimes in Aurora and Colorado in general and your classified a racist. By the way Aurora P.D. you know countless of primarily homeless, aggressive men have been living all around 6th Ave. and Peoria St. for years. Have any of you driven on Colfax Ave. the last 20 years or so??? Who are you guys kidding. You don’t do anything because you could care less about the neighborhood. If homeless were in a richer part of south eastern Aurora or near a gated community, they would of been arrested and jailed a long time ago. That’s how these councilpersons and politicians convince you. They say homeless are going to invade as if they truly care about you, you’re children and your neighborhood..no they don’t! They only care about the neighborhood THEY live in…never, ever forget that. As for Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates, the rest of the Aurora police force and the Arapahoe County District Attorneys Office, if and when there’s a buck to be made on charging, convicting, fining and jailing the homeless… they’ll all be your Huckleberry ;~)