City Council Clarifies Allowable Uses of Public Property

Feb 16, 2021 – At tonight’s meeting, the Mercer Island City Council passed Ordinance No. 21C-02 (effective March 1) creating a new Chapter of the Mercer Island City Code (MICC) relating to the use of public property and prohibiting camping and the storage of personal belongings on all public property.  If no space is available in local shelters at the time, enforcement under the ordinance is suspended for persons experiencing homelessness.

Several other Eastside cities have enacted similar ordinances, including Redmond (amended 2018), Bellevue (2017), Lynnwood (2001), and Issaquah (2000). Camping has already been prohibited in the parks of Mercer Island under MICC 9.30.160 since 1991.

The City of Mercer Island is establishing these regulations to ensure that public property is used in a safe manner and remains accessible for its intended public purpose, such as transportation, recreation, etc.

“This Ordinance focuses on the proper use of public property and is not intended to address, nor criminalize, homelessness. That is a separate regional discussion and one that I believe Mercer Island can and should participate in,” stated Mayor Benson Wong.

“We will enforce Ordinance No. 21C-02 the same way we have enforced camping in the parks,” said Police Chief Ed Holmes. “Our officers will focus on getting individuals connected to the support services and resources they need. We haven’t needed to make any arrests in the past and I don’t anticipate that changing.”

The following guiding principles will govern the measured implementation of this new regulation:

• A compassionate approach will be taken when the police interact with potential campers.
• The priority will be to get people connected to support services, over enforcement.
• The ordinance will be applied in a fair and equitable manner.
• City staff will collect six months of early implementation data and report back to the Council.

Read the full Ordinance here; view meeting materials here; archived video footage of the February 16 Council Meeting is also available on the City Council’s You Tube Channel.