Sparks Assistant City Attorney Mariah Northington during Monday’s Sparks City Council meeting said an ordinance banning people living from in their vehicles is intended to nudge them toward services intended to reduce homelessness. Community advocates who spoke during public comment called the law an “inhumane proposal” based on “twisted logic.”
The ordinance, which was unanimously approved by council members Monday after its second reading, updated Sparks laws to make living in vehicles or parking RVs on public property and obstructing sidewalks and right of ways misdemeanor crimes. Northington said prohibitions on those activities were already on the books in Sparks under the city’s traffic codes, but recent state legislation changed many traffic violations to civil infractions, creating confusion with Sparks’ law.
Amending the ordinance would clarify the penalties for violating the laws—up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
“These criminal offenses provide the Sparks Police Department’s HOPE [Homeless Outreach Proactive Engagement] Team with additional tools to use in effectuating their mission … balancing the offering of services and resources to citizens who are experiencing homelessness with maintaining public safety, public order and public health,” Northington told council members. “In order to do that, these criminal offenses provide the HOPE Team with some options to utilize after they’ve had multiple, and in some cases dozens, of contacts with certain individuals who are refusing services.”
“it’s very sad to hear that 137 people are going to have a vigil coming up, but that’s because they didn’t go get help.” – Sparks City Coucil member Krisopher Dahir
The ACLU of Nevada issued a statement against the ordinance.
“The provisions are too broad, allowing law enforcement the discretion to enforce the criminal penalties against whomever they choose,” the organization’s attorney and executive director wrote. “The provisions particularly target people without housing, criminalizing specific situations such as living in a car or sleeping in a public area.”
They further suggested the matter will be litigated.
“The City Council should not pass this proposal to avoid costly litigation,” they added. “Please consider treating taxpayers’ money, which will be expended when this matter is litigated, as your own and serving as a good fiduciary instead of passing such a foolish proposal.
Rosie Zuckerman, who volunteers for Laundry to the People, a free weekly laundry service for those in need, said the Sparks ordinance was “inhumane” and would punish people for being poor.
“I have not encountered a single person living in these conditions who wants to be in these conditions,” Zuckerman said. “The people who are going to be affected by such an ordinance do not have any other options.”
Acting Sparks City Manager and Police Chief Chris Crawforth disagreed. He said the HOPE Team often has contact with someone living unsheltered or in their vehicle 12-14 times with no arrests or citations to build trust and identify needs to help them get back on their feet. Some people, he said, refuse services and cost the city thousands of dollars for cleanup, fire suppression and police response.
Crawforth cited more than 100 warming fires Sparks Fire Department responded to over the last year, including four that burned vehicles to the rubber of the tires, as one costly result of people living in vehicles. He also said people illegally living in RVs have dumped grey water and sewage onto city streets and in parks forcing closures and cleanups to prevent the human waste from reaching the Truckee River.
Ilya Arbatman, who also volunteers for Laundry to the People and is an advocate for those living unsheltered, began his public comment by quoting Sparks City Attorney Wes Duncan.
“‘Homelessness is a societal issue that a community can’t arrest its way out of,’” Arbatman said, adding that many of the people who are living unsheltered or homeless have had unexpected hardship or bad luck and have nowhere else to go. “We are putting law enforcement on the front lines of a battle that is not theirs to fight,” he added.
Arbatman said it was “twisted logic” to create a criminal record for people already struggling to find work and housing.
Faith in Action Nevada’s Chastity Martinez advocated for the city to focus more on solutions rather than funneling people through the court system.
Northington and Crawforth said the ordinance is part of the solution. People arrested under the ordinance would be channeled into the Reno-Sparks Community Court, a specialty court focused more on addressing substance abuse, mental health and housing challenges rather than on fines and jail time.
It’s a “tool of last resort,” Northington said.
Duncan said he hasn’t seen any increase in people being arrested for living homeless since the ordinances were previously enacted. He added that the city is “not criminalizing homelessness but criminalizing certain behaviors that do have a public safety impact on the community.”
Council member Kristopher Dahir said the ordinance is “guiding [people] to a better place.”
“This community is to be valued, but we also value all the pieces of this community,” he said. “So looking at this, it’s very sad to hear that 137 people are going to have a vigil coming up, but that’s because they didn’t go get help. That’s because they’re sitting in the cold, they’re not getting the help they need.”
Council members unanimously approved the ordinance, which became effective immediately.
UPDATE: This story was updated to include comment from the ACLU, which was requested prior to publication.
