AN ANTI-CAMPING ordinance aimed at the homelessness problem goes before the Garden Grove City Council on Tuesday (Shutterstock).

A major step toward reducing public homelessness will be considered by the Garden Grove City Council when it meets on Tuesday.

The council will consider an ordinance banning camping in public places and interfering with public access. If passed and enacted into law, the new law would prohibit such activity on public property such as streets, alleyways, sidewalks, medians, parkways, driveways, rights of way, restrooms, public benches, bus benches, bus shelters, parks, open, space storm drains, public buildings or parking lots.

Additionally, the ordinance would prohibit camping near the entrances to a wide variety of public and private buildings, with distances ranging from 20 to 250 feet.

Unattended or abandoned personal property may be removed by city staff.

This new ordinance comes in consequence of the U.S Supreme Court ruling in Grants Pass v. Johnson in 2024 in which the high court determined that imposing civil and criminal penalties for camping on public land didn’t constitute cruel and unusual punishment of homeless people.

In addition to various outreach services for the unhoused, Garden Grove – along with Fountain Valley and Westminster – operates the Central Cities Navigation Center with 85 beds serving men, women and couples, offering not just shelter but counseling on housing, employment and health issues.

The council will meet in the Community Meeting Center, 11300 Stanford Ave., at 6:30 p.m.