Morgantown Voters Approve Camping Ban

The city of Morgantown has joined a growing list of communities in West Virginia to ban camping on public property. The decision is the culmination of a months-long struggle over the city’s approach to homelessness.

City residents voted Tuesday to uphold a new city ordinance that expands an existing camping ban and carries up to 30 days of incarceration as the penalty for repeated violations. Violators can also face fines ranging from $200 to $500. The ordinance does require that shelter first be offered to those experiencing homelessness before a citation is issued, but there are only around 50 shelter beds for the more than 150 people estimated to be experiencing homelessness in Morgantown. Most of those 50 beds are already occupied.

The ordinance was first proposed to the city council by Ward 3 member Louise “Weezy” Michael last July. 

“We appreciate the trust our community has placed in us by supporting the continuation of the camping and public properties ordinance,” Michael said. “This decision reflects our dedication to maintaining public safety and enhancing the quality of life for all of our residents. We remain committed to working collaboratively with various stakeholders to ensure our policies are effective and compassionate, addressing the needs of both our unsheltered population and our broader community.”

Michael maintains that a focus on law enforcement arresting people is neither the intent of the ordinance nor will be the reality once enforcement begins..

“We really want people to reach out and get services, whether it be rehab, mental health services or shelter, and eventually housing,” she said. “But we have to get people in the first steps to get them there. And that’s why, you know, we aren’t giving citations. We literally are asking them if they would like help and to reach out to people to get the services.”

The Morgantown City Council approved the camping ban last September, but it drew swift condemnation from housing advocates who said the ban would criminalize homelessness with fines or jail time and make it even harder for struggling people to find long-term housing. Proponents of the ordinance said action needed to be taken to create a sense of urgency around the issue.

In November, Morgantown residents successfully petitioned to repeal the ban, an action the city council declined to take. That sent it to a city-wide vote. 

The question before voters Tuesday was whether to go ahead with the repeal. Ultimately just 78 votes separated the results, with 982 residents voting against the repeal and 904 voting for the repeal.

Michael said she’s tired after a long year of impassioned debate, but is glad things can now move forward.

“Anything we could do to make our community better, and especially for our most vulnerable residents, absolutely, there’s not going to be a breakdown in communication,” she said. “We’re all on the same page.”

Since last year, multiple camping bans have been approved across the state, in cities like Wheeling, Bluefield and Clarksburg. A similar bill was also proposed in the state legislature this year, but didn’t advance past the House of Delegates.

With 1,886 votes in total, the camping ban was the most voted on issue on Tuesday’s ballot, receiving 50 more votes than another ballot measure and almost 100 more votes than the only contested council member election.

Gwen Bergner, a Morgantown resident, voted in Tuesday’s election. Bergner said she wants to see city council work on the core issues that affect a lack of housing in her community.

“I think it’s important to work on those issues, rather than just ban something without making sure people have resources for housing,” she said.

Brian Butcher represents Morgantown’s seventh ward on the City Council, and is the co-lead of West Virginia Housing Justice. The group organized events to get out the vote against the local camping ordinance ahead of Tuesday’s election.

Tuesday night, he awaited election results at a local bookstore with other housing advocates. Nervous chatter quickly went silent in the room as results came in just after 10 p.m.

“I’m feeling crushed a little bit,” Butcher said.

Throughout the discussion of the ordinance, Butcher maintained that the restrictions will only cause confusion in enforcement and hurt those it purports to help, pushing them into even more dangerous situations.

“If it’s enforced to the letter of the law, folks will have a harder time finding housing because they’ll be slapped with fines that they can’t pay, which will end up in jail time, even if they don’t hit the third offense, which will give them jail time,” Butcher said. “I think it’ll be a lot harder for people to find housing.”

While disappointed, Butcher is adamant that he and others will continue to advocate around housing issues in Morgantown. He hopes proponents of the ordinance will keep their word that it will be the impetus for more work around the issue.

“If there’s any silver lining to take, it’s that they said that this would spur on a lot of creation and new resources,” Butcher said. “So we’ll see if they’ll put their money where their mouth is.”

The results of the election will not be official until canvassing is completed May 5, and it will be a further 30 days until the ordinance will begin to be enforced in early June.