Members of Morgantown City Council (from left) Jennifer Selin, Mayor Joe Abu-Ghannam and Danielle Trumble, discuss a camping ban that council passed in September. The council voted Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, not to repeal it, opting to put the measure on the ballot during the April city election. (City of Morgantown Youtube)
Voters in Morgantown will decide the future of a law that would impose fines and jail time on homeless people sleeping on its streets and in public places.
Morgantown City Council on Wednesday voted four to three not to repeal its camping ban, opting instead to put the measure on the ballot for the next city election.
After city council passed the camping ban in September, the Morgantown Coalition for Housing Action successfully petitioned to have it repealed or put it on the ballot during a city election.
The ordinance — which is not in effect — prohibits camping on any public property — including streets, parks and trails — and also prohibits storing personal property in public areas. Second and third violations of the law are punishable by fines of $200 and $300 and/or 30 days in jail, respectively.
When she proposed the ban, Councilwoman Louise Michael argued that homelessness has become an “immediate and serious safety and health issue” in the city.
During Wednesday evening’s meeting, several opponents of the ban spoke against it, asking council members to repeal the ordinance, and promising to vote against it if they didn’t.
Morgantown resident Stephanie Hunt said her own neighborhood has been affected by homelessness, and while people agree that it should be addressed, they disagree about how.
“Criminalizing those who are homeless doesn’t solve the problem, it punishes people for their circumstances,” Hunt said. “Homelessness is driven by factors like poverty, mental illness, drug addiction and lack of affordable housing. We should be addressing these issues and causes, not targeting people experiencing homelessness.”
Councilwoman Danielle Trumble moved to repeal the ordinance. She said she’d recently attended information sessions about homelessness at a National League of Cities conference.
“It has been really hammered into me, especially at that conference, that homelessness is a housing problem,” Trumble said. “It’s not a substance abuse problem. It’s not a mental health problem. It’s not a poverty problem. Those things exacerbate and are factors that definitely play into that, but at the end of the day, we don’t have places for people to go.”
Morgantown has a 28-bed shelter. Trumble said officials are working on plans for a warming shelter that would have 22 more beds. The city has about 150 homeless people, she said.
Councilwoman Jennifer Selin, who voted for the camping ban in September, said officials have compassion for people who are homeless but are balancing concerns about sharing the use of the city’s downtown and trail system and having clean recreational spaces for people.
“I believe in having a viable community where our space is shared and clean and usable,” she said.
In an email to West Virginia Watch Thursday, Michael wrote that it will be up to “the voters and community to decide how to move forward.”
Morgantown is one of at least four cities in West Virginia that have passed camping bans in the months since the United States Supreme Court ruled in late June that a similar ban in Grants Pass, Oregon does not violate the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Bluefield, Clarksburg and Princeton have also passed camping bans.
Morgantown’s next city election is planned for April 2025.
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