New rules on street camping draw bipartisan support from Spokane leaders

It was an oddity of Spokane politics.

In 2023, voters overwhelmingly backed strict regulations on homeless people camping in the city at the same time they backed a new mayor and council members who mostly opposed the rules.

Since then, the enforcement, or perhaps the lack thereof, of the camping law has dominated city politics.

Within the next several days, city leaders likely will adopt rules that will set the city on a course similar to the voter-approved law thrown out by the state Supreme Court earlier this year. In some ways, it may be stricter.

This time, it has the support of conservatives and liberals on the City Council.

They are based on a proposal put forward by Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown. Although she has listed concerns with some amendments made by a team of council members aimed at finding compromises, on the basics, particularly about stricter enforcement of camping on public lands, Brown agrees.

Public camping and related problems, including open drug use, has been a growing problem in Spokane. Last year, 136 unhoused people died of an accidental overdose within Spokane County, according to the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office. In a recent Greater Spokane Incorporated poll released last week of 600 Spokane County residents, homelessness and “Crime/Drugs/Public safety” were rated as the highest concerns by far.

The question is whether general agreement across the political spectrum of city leaders on stricter enforcement will remove the shadow of 2023’s Proposition 1 from city politics and allow leaders focus on other controversies and policies to help the homeless, give relief to businesses and change the image of downtown.

“I mean the four years I’ve been on council, we have been stuck on an argument of where camping is allowed and not allowed,” Councilman Zack Zappone said. “We have not been able to talk about what number of facilities we need and what types of beds. We just haven’t.”

The latest version was negotiated in large part with Zappone and council members Michael Cathcart and Kitty Klitzke.

“I will say I have been incredibly both grateful – and I’ll be honest – surprised at the level of support that has been shown for the policy that I pitched here a couple of weeks ago,” said Cathcart, a member of the conservative minority on the council. “This is probably one of the most collaborative and bipartisan efforts that I’ve seen on council.”

Brown noted that four outreach teams recently began working in the city to help connect homeless people to resources. The city also opened a navigation center for the same purpose. The center is a place homeless people can start at before they are sent to a shelter. Spokane’s facility doesn’t have beds but offers daytime space in hopes of connecting those in need to other services.

“Part of the reason for believing that this is a good time to amend the camping and obstruction ordinance and give officers more tools for enforcement is that these other pieces are also in place,” Brown said. “I think it’s really important because it’s not just about this ordinance. It really is about having a coordinated system so that you can do outreach for people and get them connected to services.”

Gavin Cooley, director of strategic initiatives for the Spokane Business Association, supports the council’s latest plan and praises the city’s new resources like the outreach team.

“I really want to applaud the work, the council and the mayor working together,” said Cooley, Spokane’s former chief financial officer. “I think it’s a huge positive development.”

But he said he wants to make sure the rules, once passed, are enforced. He worries that much more needs to be done to provide detox and other services to folks facing a choice of accepting services or getting arrested.

“We really hope that the next steps are taken – to make sure that this car is actually taken out of the driveway and driven effectively, and that it’s towards getting people into the services they need and not into the jail,” Cooley said.

The 2023 proposition passed with 75% support. It banned camping within 1,000 feet of schools, day cares and parks. That equated to most of the city, though not all. After the state Supreme Court tossed the law saying such rules need to be approved by elected leaders, not by voters, the council in June passed rules banning public camping in all the city. But it allowed anyone who accepted help or simply moved to avoid arrest. Critics said it was toothless.

After Spokane Police Chief Kevin Hall reported that after several weeks of enforcing the new law officers found no one who accepted help and no one had been arrested, Brown proposed stricter rules. They made it easier to arrest those camping on public property and gave officers more discretion to make arrests.

On Friday, the latest version negotiated among council members was unveiled. That version increases penalties for damaging street trees and littering, outlines new reporting requirements to help gauge the effectiveness of the rules and redefines “camping,” among other changes.

But there are still disagreements. Brown has listed concerns with a few of the changes.

She said that the council’s amendment making it a misdemeanor to damage a street tree would mean park rangers or city foresters would not be able to enforce it with a citation, instead requiring a police officer. A change to the regulations at transit facilities would mean police would have to enforce the rules at Spokane Transit Authority Plaza, where she believes STA security is in a better position to do so. And while she agrees that camping in a public place should be illegal, she said the council’s definition of obstruction that could lead to a violation is too broad.

Cathcart said rolling back the council’s changes would significantly weaken the legislation and make him unlikely to support it.

Brown agrees that there’s much more to be done and is hopeful to see more investments by other local governments.

“There are some good examples of us working together and although it’s been a little bit behind the scenes, we are making some good co-investments between the city and the county,” she said.

City leaders say they are hopeful that moving forward will shift the debate from public camping to solving other related problems, like ensuring there are enough sober beds to help addicts and simple shelter beds as the weather gets colder.

“We’re not simply going to walk away and let people overdose and we’re not simply going to treat this as a situation where we are just wasting a significant amount of resources as we have been by sending our officers out to not enforce and not actually accomplish anything that’s good for either the community or those who are are suffering from homelessness, drug use, etcetera,” Cathcart said.

Editor’s note: This story was changed on Oct. 26, 2025 to replace an overdose statistic. Last year, 136 unhoused people died of an accidental overdose within Spokane County, according to the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office. That statistic replaced a statistic about all overdose deaths in Spokane County, not just ones involving the homeless population.