The city of Burns is holding a public hearing on the proposed Time, Place, and Manner Ordinance regarding homeless camping on May 10, 2023, from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. If the time allotted isn’t enough, the discussion will continue at a subsequent City Council meeting.

The proposed ordinance is in response to House Bill 3115, House Bill 3124, as well as the resulting Oregon Revised Statute 195.530.

The statute states that, “Any city or county law that regulates the acts of sitting, lying, sleeping, or keeping warm and dry outdoors on public property that is open to the public must be objectively reasonable as to time, place, and manner with regards to persons experiencing homelessness.”

Within that framework, the city of Burns put together a proposed ordinance that allows Burns to regulate when, where, and how people can camp within city limits, so long as a specific location is set forth, and it is objectively reasonable.

The ordinance needs to be in place prior to July 1, 2023. Without the ordinance in place, city officials and the Burns Police Department will not be able to move people who decide to camp on any public property, including city sidewalks, parks, public right of ways, etc.

The proposed location is the city property between the baseball field and where the city dumps snow on North Foley Drive. The camping time will be from an hour before sunset to an hour after sunrise. Those who utilize this area will not be allowed to accumulate garbage, leave behind possessions during the time that they vacate the park, or build huts/leantos of any sort. The city is discussing providing a dumpster, portable toilets, and running water. There is also discussion of privacy fencing around the proposed area.

Many more regulations are in the proposed ordinance, such as time, place, and manner for car and/or recreational vehicles, as well as a proposed Parks Ordinance that will assist the city in maintaining the proposed campsites.

Please reach out to City of Burns Code Enforcement Officer Emerson Budreau at 541-573-6781 or 541-573-5255 if you have any questions.