City Wants Private Property Owners to Add ‘Mandatory Rest Spaces’ for the Homeless

Portland, Oregon, like many other notably “blue” cities, is not immune to a growing homelessness problem. Like San Francisco, California, and Seattle, Washington, Portland is overrun with people sleeping rough, many of whom suffer from drug addiction and mental illness.

There are humane ways to handle the homelessness problem but, it seems, a Portland city commission would rather change Portland’s building codes in order to force private property owners to accommodate members of Portland’s homeless population, according to local media.

The city’s “planning and sustainability commission,” which writes and enforces the city’s building codes, approved a change to building guidelines in November that would require new constuction to feature “opportunities to rest and be welcome” for those who do not number among that building’s residents or customers.

The requirement can be read a number of ways, but at least one member of the Portland planning and sustainability commission was clear to local reporters that the requirement is to the benefit of the city’s “unhoused,” who are often kicked off of private property for loitering, sleeping, or camping — as is (typically) a private property owner’s right. . .

Business owners obviously took issue with the new requirement, badgering committee members to be more specific about the rules — particularly whether the Portland planning and sustainability commission was mandating that private property owners accommodate beds, tents, and full camps. (Read more from “City Wants Private Property Owners to Add ‘Mandatory Rest Spaces’ for the Homeless” HERE)

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