Florida homeless camping bill sparks disagreement from mayors: 'We know how to solve this problem'

ORLANDO, Fla. - Sanford Mayor Art Woodruff said a bill sitting on Gov. Ron DeSantis' desk to ban camping in public is unfair.

DeSantis could sign off on a crackdown on public camping any day now. He backed the bill, and both state legislature chambers gave it the green light.

Woodruff said his city would need help from the state to pay for some of the proposed changes if they chose to adopt them. He said it seems as though the legislature is handing off the issue.

"The legislature sometimes doesn't want to deal with a problem, and so they push it off," Woodruff said. "That's what I see this as."

The bill would have local governments enforce bans on sleeping and camping in public spaces unless a local government assigns designated areas. Those designated spaces would have to provide running water with access to bathrooms, among other conditions.

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"It's unfair to the people who need a place to live, it's unfair to the city, it's unfair to the county, and it's unfair to other citizens," Woodruff said.

Woodruff said the homeless crisis is a statewide issue. 

"As much as the legislature preempts cities and counties, this is a state issue they should be dealing with, not pushing down to the cities," Woodruff said.

The new legislation would take effect Oct. 1 if signed by the governor.

"We won't do anything," Woodruff said. "We have an ordinance in place that defines what camping and what people can and can't do. We don't use it as an opportunity to try to arrest people. We use it as a way to get intervention to people who need it."

The City of Tampa tried a designated homeless camp for two months during the pandemic. The city told FOX 35 News it costs roughly $60,000 monthly for every 100 homeless people. At $600 a tent, that's $720,000 a year.

"Our city, no city, probably, can handle the funding for this on their own," Woodruff said.

"We know how to solve this problem," Woodruff said. "It takes a lot of money, but it takes in the long run, less money than the things we're doing now."

Chris Ham, the head of Seminole County's only homeless shelter, Rescue Outreach Mission, disagrees with the bill's text. He said he can find a silver lining because the governor's also calling for more shelter funding.

"No one believes anyone should be sleeping in a tent when experiencing homelessness," Ham said. "What we do have the opportunity is it gives us a chance to really talk about these systemic issues."

Several local governments have enacted similar laws. The City of Orlando adopted a sidewalk-blocking ordinance. Commissioner Regina Hill said the city will be ready when the new piece of legislation takes effect.

"If this bill is signed, then we will work in the vein of the urgency of now, but this isn't something that I think we have to play catch up [with]," Hill said.

The bill says local governments can get the state's financial help if needed.

It also says any resident, business owner, or the attorney general can sue if they don't think a local government hasn't taken action to stop camping in public.