The Sioux Falls City Council is advancing an ordinance addressing encampments and dwellings in public places such as parks.
While the ordinance is still met with opposition, a heavily amended version is creating a clearer path forward.
At a meeting earlier this month, Sioux Falls city councilors saw opposition to an ordinance opponents say hurts the unhoused community. It prohibits certain structures in public places, including shelters.
At that same meeting, officials said the intent of the ordinance is to connect unhoused members with services and the help they need while maintaining public safety, something current city code doesn’t easily accomplish.
Democratic State Rep. Kadyn Wittman offered some changes to the councilors, and they responded by amending the ordinance at the latest meeting.
Specifically, now the ordinance requires documented efforts to connect unhoused individuals to a service provider before a violation is issued, as well as notice if an individual isn’t present and provides protections of personal property during removal.
City Councilor Rich Merkouris brought forward the amendments.
“This is personal for me," Merkouris said. "This is why I ran for city council, was the issue of homelessness.”
In asking for support from councilors, he said the solutions to this issue aren’t easy.
“So what do you do when it’s complex? You have to write a complex and maybe a difficult-to-implement law to reflect the complexity of the situation. So tonight’s amendments offered as a compromise and collaboration to try to put together something that maybe agree 70%," Merkouris said. "But what it does is it provides us an opportunity to meet a complex situation with a complex ordinance.”
However, not all are entirely sold yet, including councilor Miranda Basye who said right now, she has more questions than understanding — and that includes some reflection.
“So many of us, either ourselves or somebody else, are one extra drink, one bad decision away from this exact situation. If you don’t think that, then you probably don’t know enough about the people around you," Basye said. "But all of this communication, and the fact that we’re having conversations about substantial amendments tonight, make me ask the questions, ‘How did so much happen in a short amount of time?’, ‘What kinds of conversations led us here to consider this to begin with?’ and ‘What kind of conversations have we not had yet that we still need to have?’”
However, the council voted unanimously to have a third reading at the next city council meeting to continue the conversation on Aug. 19.
