House Bill 3115 Overview

Overview

HB 3115 requires cities to allow community members to sleep and rest on public property – with restrictions – when no shelter beds are accessible. Cities can regulate the time, place, and manner in which sleeping and resting occur.

Time: Cities can prohibit camping during certain hours.

Place: Cities can limit camping to certain areas.

Manner: Cities can restrict the amount of personal property and how camping occurs (i.e., what types of tents and storage of materials are allowed on public property.

Court Decisions and Legislative History

Following recent federal court decisions, cities and counties must reconsider local ordinances regulating public spaces and homelessness. In 2021, the Oregon Legislature enacted HB 3115, which created a state statutory standard based on the federal court decisions in Martin v. Boise and Blake v. Grants Pass. HB 3115 requires cities to consider their local ordinances within the context of available local shelter services and public space. 

Martin v. Boise

In April of 2019, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that homeless persons cannot be punished for sleeping outside on public property in the absence of adequate alternatives, or unless the law imposes “reasonable time, place, and manner” restrictions on the regulated activities in public space.

Blake v. Grants Pass.

In July of 2020, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the U.S. District Court’s prior ruling that persons experiencing homelessness are entitled to take necessary minimal measures to keep themselves warm and dry while sleeping outside.  The Ninth Circuit ruled that cities violate the Eighth Amendment if they punish a person for the mere act of sleeping outside, or for sleeping in their vehicles at night when there is no other place in the city for them to go.   

HB 3115

In 2022 the Oregon Legislature passed HB 3115 which codified the decisions of the federal court.

HB 3115 requires that any city ordinance regulating the acts of sitting, lying, sleeping, or keeping warm and dry outside on public property must be “objectively reasonable” based on the totality of the circumstances as applied to all stakeholders, including persons experiencing homelessness.

The bill allows cities to enact reasonable time, place, and manner regulations, aiming to preserve the ability of cities to manage public spaces effectively for the benefit of an entire community. Cities are required to implement HB 3115 by July 1, 2023.

 

City of Sherwood Code Update on HB 3115

Sherwood Municipal Code 9.54 addresses the “Regulation of camping in the areas open to the public.” Under HB 3115 this code must be amended so that the City of Sherwood will be in compliance with the new law.

The City of Sherwood has held three work session discussing HB 3115.

March 21st Video

The City Council met in work session to discuss the background and history of the legal cases, the passage of HB 3115 and to begin discussion on how Sherwood could come into compliance with HB 3115.

April 18th Video

The City Council met in work session to discuss draft language for a local time, manner, and place guidelines for the City of Sherwood. 

The City Council discussed the following guidelines:

Time:

  • 9:00 p.m. until 7:00 a.m.

Place:

Open to all areas except for the following restricted areas:

  • Institutional Public Zone
  • Residential Zone and Residential Structures (with 50 ft buffer)
  • 1000 feet of any school
  • Within all Sherwood School District Walk Zones
  • Sensitive areas regulated by Clean Water Services
  • Any area that reduces sidewalk width below 4 feet.

Manner:

  • No open flames
  • No gas heat
  • No structures other than tents or tarps
  • No public defecation or urination
  • No accumulation of trash or rubbish
  • No digging in the ground or removing vegetation

 

May 16th Video

The City Council met in work session with staff to review maps to show the impacts of the draft language on “Place” restrictions of the draft ordinance. After mapping the restrictions discussed during the April 18 meeting, no viable properties were available to meet the requirements of the state law. As a result, Council identified a portion of a vacant City-owned property along Columbia St. in Old Town as a suitable site. The restrictions listed above and discussed during the April 18 meeting will remain, with the single exception of the Columbia St. lot. Additional restricted locations, such as the Police Department, have also been added to the draft ordinance.

The first public hearing on amending Sherwood Municipal Code 9.54 is scheduled for June 6th, 2023.

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