What we know
The city’s current civility ordinance states that individuals cannot sit, lie down, or leave any item of bedding material on a sidewalk between the hours of 7 a.m. and 11 p.m.
“One of the challenges of trying to get people off the streets was that at 11 p.m., they knew they could just lie down and go to sleep, and they could by law,” Satterwhite said. “We weren’t really solving the problem.”
Now, the city is looking to expand the ordinance to ban sleeping and lying down on streets 24/7, starting with the downtown and East End areas first, before expanding to other parts of the city. Satterwhite said the city wants to start with the downtown area because it’s historically a concentrated area and a hub for homeless individuals.
“We only have limited resources,” he said. “We don’t have enough beds for them to go to. That’s why we can’t also address the whole city. We’re starting where we can and where the problem is most pronounced, trying to address it there and move out to other areas. If we could do the whole city, we would. We simply cannot do that right now.”
Why now?
The expansion of the civility ordinance is part of the city’s efforts to combat homelessness, with the city launching its $70 million plan to end street homelessness earlier this year.
Michael Nichols, director of the city's Housing and Development Department, said in a June 16 Quality of Life committee meeting that $210 million is needed for the first three years of the plan. So far, the plan has received funding from multiple sources, such as:
- $23 million: City of Houston
- $10 million a year: Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County
- $2.6 million a year: Houston First
- $1 million: Houston Downtown Management District
Kelly Young, the president and CEO for the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County, said during the quality of life committee meeting that the city has been running numerous enforcement initiatives to clear areas with homeless individuals and taking them to shelters or resources to help them. These initiatives include:
- Chartres Decommissioning: 46 out of 68 engaged individuals were connected to housing solutions at Chartres Street
- Bayou Place Initiative: 15 individuals were provided a pathway off the street, with the homeless outreach teams offering beds at the Sobering Center
- Allen’s Landing Decommissioning: 16 out of 24 engaged individuals were moved directly into housing solutions
Satterwhite said the change to the civility ordinance will need approval from the City Council, which is expected sometime in July.
“The mayor is on board,” Satterwhite said. “With approval from the City Council, we’ll say: Not anymore. Not in this area.”
