The Minneapolis City Council has passed a safe outdoor parking ordinance which will allow homeless people to sleep overnight in their vehicles in designated parking lots.
Councilmember Jason Chavez says the sites would be staffed by non-profit or religious organizations.
"This rigorous process will ensure that any safe parking site has an emphasis on keeping guests in the surrounding neighborhood safe," added Chavez. "And let's remember, most importantly too, that these residents who would use these sites are simply looking for some peace, basic amenities, and help into permanent housing."
Chavez says sites would be open from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. with enforced quiet hours, and residents required to leave the immediate area during the day.
It's modeled after a similar program in Duluth and comes after nearly two years of consideration. The program has been met mostly with positivity so far in Duluth, with some success transitioning people to more permanent housing. But, there's been debate about locations of the parking areas.
Councilmember Aisha Chugtai says it's a step in the right direction.
"We need more tools, not less, to address this crisis," Chugtai explained. "We need to meet this crisis with care and creativity, and not more of the same old hoping for a different result."
The policy was authored by Council Members Chavez, Chughtai, Aurin Chowdhury, and Soren Stevenson.
“We urgently need solutions to the crisis of homelessness in our city, and this ordinance is an important step toward that,” said Council Member Soren Stevenson. Evidence from other cities that have passed similar ordinances, and what City and County staff have found shows that safe parking can be an effective early intervention program to support homeless neighbors living out of their vehicles to get into housing and be safe. Our neighbors are not disposable. They deserve, at the very least, to have a place where they can safely go to sleep at night.”
