The Ceres City Council took a step Monday evening to close a loophole that prevented the city from ridding blight from parks and public spaces left behind by homeless persons.
According to Ceres Police Chief Chris Perry, with the city’s restrictions on overnight camping in parks and public places, many homeless persons often leave the park or public space for the evening and leave behind their collection of belongings, including bicycles, carts, bags and grocery carts they have illegally removed from commercial businesses.
“This creates a dilemma for code enforcement,” said the chief. “While the individual is not camping in the area, there stuff is often left in a public park or place for days at a time.”
Adding language to Title 8, Chapter 16 of the Ceres Municipal Code makes it illegal for individuals from storing or dumping items in a public park and retrieving them at their leisure. The new prohibition on storing or dumping items like bicycles, furniture, appliances, etc., allows code enforcement to require individuals remove these items or not have them there at all. The change will help Code Enforcement officers move individuals out of public parks more efficiently and with less resistance, a city staff report stated.
“This prohibition will also prevent the unhoused individual from bringing these items into the park in the first place, knowing that the items can be seized if they are found in the park,” the chief told the council.
Councilwoman Rosalinda Vierra noted that she has seen mattresses and discarded items left in parks. She also noted that police have had to deal with the continuing problem of an RV parked at Brown Park for three weeks whereby occupants are tossing trash outside the RV.
“I think this is a great first step in trying to resolve and address that as well as hopefully minimizing those who think that it is campground instead of going to the safe parking spot that is free in Modesto.”
Chief Perry said the ordinance will be enforced by code enforcement officers but could also be enforced by regular police officers.
The ordinance would not forbid folks to bring items like play equipment or picnic baskets, said the chief, “but it’s when you go to a park and now there’s an engine block from a car or multiple bicycle parts left or, again, abandoned shopping carts and bags of clothes and things like that. These are things that aren’t typically brought into the parks and would now be considered prohibited.”
Councilman Daniel Martinez asked the chief to elaborate on problems with RV and car camping. He noted how one individual who hangs out in Smyrna Park all day and lives out of his car on Garrison Street “right down the street from where our youth practice baseball.
Chief Perry said the city has a separate camping ordinance that prohibits camping in public places. Typically a police officer would be the one to enforce such prohibitions, the chief noted.
