Anti-homeless ordinance in Orlando up for a final vote by city leaders Monday

Orlando City Council on Monday will have a second and final vote on a controversial ordinance that would make it illegal for people to block or obstruct sidewalks. City council unanimously approved the ordinance during its first reading in December, quietly advancing the proposal with zero discussion. A public hearing on Monday will be held ahead of the vote during the city's regularly scheduled meeting at 2 p.m.

Based on the proposed language, housing advocates and community activists worry the ordinance would largely target unsheltered people, who often congregate in areas near and around downtown Orlando at least in part due to a centralization of homelessness resources. The proposed ordinance, similar to encampment bans that criminalize homelessness, seeks to expand the city’s existing definition of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor offense, to outlaw sitting or lying on sidewalks in a way that blocks another person’s passage.

Currently, "disorderly conduct" refers to certain aggressive, confrontational or willfully obstructive behaviors, such as acting "in a violent or tumultuous manner toward
another" or blocking traffic under city code.

Under the proposal, disorderly conduct would be expanded to include:

Any person who, walks, stands, sits, lies, or places an object in such manner as to intentionally block passage by another person or to require another person to take evasive action to avoid physical contact, or who, after being ordered to move by law enforcement officers, remains in or on any public street or sidewalk in such a manner as to block or impair movement of vehicles or pedestrians.

Anyone found engaging in disorderly conduct, under city code, can be fined up to $500 and spend up to 60 days in jail. When reached for comment in December, the Orlando Police Department denied that the ordinance would disproportionately affect homeless people, arguing the measure was meant to enhance public safety.

But community activists who organize food shares and other direct services for the city's homeless population see it differently. "This ordinance jeopardizes the well-being of our homeless neighbors, perpetuates the criminalization of homelessness, and overlooks the root causes of the issue," wrote the Revolutionary Education & Action League (REAL) Orlando in a joint statement on Instagram with the People's Free Kitchen, a grassroots group that organizes food shares for the homeless.

The group is organizing community meetings this weekend at Downtown Credo North Quarter to mobilize against the ordinance.

Martha Are, president and CEO of the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida, expressed similar concerns. "Within the city, it is already illegal to sleep or 'camp' on public property — including in parks and on public benches," Are told Orlando Weekly in an emailed statement. "And since it’s also illegal to trespass on private property, our unsheltered neighbors could find themselves violating the law essentially by merely surviving. Any arrest or fine will only exacerbate the extreme challenges they face in regaining housing."

Struggles to find or maintain affordable housing in Orlando have only grown in recent years, with rent prices skyrocketing during the COVID-19 pandemic. But the Central Florida region, undoubtedly, has struggled with an unaffordable housing crisis for years. In 2019, Orlando was ranked the worst metropolitan city in the nation for affordable housing by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, with an insufficient number of affordable units for residents to go around. (Remember when someone tried to rent out a shipping container shed in Orlando for $900 a month in 2022?)

According to recent counts, Central Florida's Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties have seen a 75% increase in unsheltered individuals since 2019, with many of those individuals and families concentrated in Orange County. The city of Orlando estimates there are about 200 to 250 unsheltered people on the streets of the city on any given day.

"Homelessness, more than anything else, is a housing problem. It should not be a crime."

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This latest ordinance likely won't come as a surprise to longtime residents of the City Beautiful, despite initiatives advanced by the city in recent years to tackle the problem of homelessness. From the adoption of a Housing First approach, partnering with federal agencies like the Department of Veterans Affairs, to tossing millions of dollars at social service nonprofits (including the Homeless Services Network), it's been hoped that the city can roll out a coordinated care system that's more effective than fining or jailing people for lacking a home to return to at night.

Orlando, after all, has a decades-long history of enacting controversial anti-homeless laws, from a ban on panhandling that was ultimately deemed unconstitutional (the infamous "blue box" ordinance) to a ban on unpermitted food-sharing in city parks that targeted mutual aid groups like Food Not Bombs.

In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court also ruled that people cannot be punished for sitting or sleeping on public property if there are no adequate shelter alternatives available, declaring this a violation of the Eighth Amendment prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment. Various cities and states have grappled with the ruling, meticulously crafting laws that comply with the ruling, ever since.

Just this week, Altamonte Springs, north of Orlando, passed its own camping ban, adding an exception the city believes will help ensure the new law complies with the higher court's 2018 decision. 

Are, with the Homeless Services Network, said that shelters in Orlando are often full. Others may have eligibility requirements that homeless people with complex health needs may not be able to comfortably meet.

The nonprofit CEO says she's met with city officials to brainstorm effective strategies for helping individuals and families who are living on the streets. And, despite her concern over the ordinance, she nonetheless described the city as a "lead supporter" in building new affordable housing. Leaders across the region, she said, need to come together to "be the solution."

"In Central Florida, homelessness, more than anything else, is a housing problem," said Are. "It should not be a crime."

Orlando City Council will hold a public hearing and vote on whether to adopt the new ordinance Monday at City Hall during their regularly scheduled meeting at 2 p.m. Those who wish to provide public comment on the ordinance can sign up to provide comment in person or submit a written comment using this online form.
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