The Bloomington Board of Park Commissioners will vote Tuesday at 4pm on a policy update that would remove camping structures — which frequently operate as shelters for unhoused individuals — from public parks.
As written, Special Use Policy #13040 currently prohibits camping overnight in public parks, but the proposed update would forbid the use of tents and other makeshift shelters during the day, as well.
“If there is a permanent encampment in a park space or structure such as a shelter, it restricts access to and/or discourages use of that space by the entire community,” Parks and Recreation Dept. Administrator Paula McDevitt said in an email.
Over 172 people are virtually attending tonight’s Bloomington Board of Park Commissioners meeting. What’s on the agenda? A policy item that would ban tents and overnight camping in city parks. I’ll be giving updates throughout the meeting @wtiunews @WFIUNews — Ethan Burks (@EthanMBurks) December 8, 2020
But members of the public have voiced opposition on social media to the policy. Rev. Forrest Gilmore, Executive Director of Shalom Center, took to Facebook encouraging Bloomington residents to attend the board’s virtual meeting and express their opinions.
According to McDevitt, the parks department allocates two hours and four staff members every day to clean up 10 60-gallon bags of trash and spent an additional $30,000 from September through November on a program that focused on building relationships and providing services to community members who use the park. McDevitt said the City is working with directors of local shelters to prepare unhoused residents for the policy change.
“Outreach workers from these organizations along with BPD DRO's and Neighborhood Resource officers and social workers will work together to connect people in the parks to services and community resources,” McDevitt said in an email. “Currently, overnight shelters in the city are not at capacity, and Wheeler Mission has opened a new daytime shelter space.”
Wheeler Mission’s new daytime shelter functions as a women’s space during the day and houses 15-20 high-risk men at night, according to Chris-Michael Morrison, the Director of Advancement at Wheeler Mission-Bloomington.
With additional winter contingency shelters, Wheeler Mission can house approximately 170 guests overnight. That’s less than half the number of people experiencing homelessness in Bloomington identified by City’s point-in-time count in late January and far from the 1,100 guest Morrison said the shelter served in 2019.
When asked in an email if the board has contemplated designating space in public parks for encampments, Devitt replied, “No.”
