Fremont, California – Michael Austin ruled the corner of a vast homeless camp in an abandoned lot next to Fremont’s rumble bart truck and built a palace of his own kind.

His makeshift home – a tent reinforced with wooden panels, steel poles and chain link fencing – is two stories, with a bed for the day on the first floor, a queen mattress on the second floor, and plenty of cushions to make 18 cats more comfortable. He built a fire hole in front of him, planted long poles in the middle of the camp to fly the American flag. Scattered throughout the camp alongside a pile of dry cat food is a selection of tools, scrap metal and motor gear that 60-year-old Austin transforms into a mini-go-kart, electric bike, and scooter.

His 20 or so neighbors, camping on the lots of Osgood Road and Washington Boulevard, live in a strict assortment of tents, tarps and plywood.

Usually, Austin said he likes to keep his space in an organized state of chaos. But these days, he has made no point in tidying up. At any time, he packs his bags and expects him to move out of the lot, which he has been called home for two years. New urban law Prohibited camp Regarding public and private property. Violators could face misdemeanor charges, $1,000 fines and six months of prison.

“I’m going to go to jail, and that’s the only way they’re getting me out of here,” said Austin, petting his grey cat, steamer. Maybe he would leave voluntarily if he provided the city with affordable housing that allowed cats and tools, but that seems unlikely. His campground may not be home with all the cats and messy things, he said, but it’s “my home.”

Fremont City Council adopted the camping ordinance on February 11 with a 6-1 vote, making this diverse Bay Area suburb 40 miles southeast of San Francisco the latest in the latest California city to pursue stricter enforcement on homeless camps. Local leaders estimate that the city has around 800 people without permanent residence. Of these, more than 600 people live their lives on the streets and cars. These numbers are pale compared to tens of thousands of homeless people in Los Angeles, but are visible in this family-friendly suburb of around 225,000 people.

The prevention of camping trend has taken over the liberal Bay Area, where locals are tired of tent cities. In City After City, voters used ballot boxes to select a more gentle leadership and urge local officials to regain the streets.

Democratic cities such as Berkeley, Auckland And, in the country’s most liberal jurisdictions, San Francisco has adopted a more aggressive enforcement strategy for homeless camps following the pivotal US Supreme Court ruling last June, empowering communities to restrict homeless camps on public property, even when there are no shelters available.

Michael Austin says his homeless camp may not be home, with all the cats and messiness, but it is “my home.”

(Paul Cloda / for the era)

Proponents of this collective approach say the Bay Area’s reputation for generosity and compassion had unexpected downsides.

Meanwhile, organizations defending homelessness routinely denounced camping as a short-term bandage that does nothing to address systemic poverty, untreated mental illness, a lack of drug treatment and a shameful shortage of affordable housing.

Fremont is the latest Bay Area City to wrestlers with the best way to navigate these turbulent crosswinds.

Fremont’s ordinance incorporates languages ​​adopted by many California cities, banning camping in public spaces such as sidewalks, waterways and parks. As originally adopted, the ordinance also banned “assistance and beg” homeless camps.

The language was furious and confused, a group of homeless activists said the “assistance and be” clause poses a direct threat to overtaking workers who provide important food and health care to homeless people.

“It’s cruel to punish people for experiencing homelessness, and punishing people who just want to help them is cruel,” said Jesse Rabinowitz, director of campaign and communications at the National Center for Homeless Law.

Dozens of supporters and community members lined up to oppose the ordinance during the long hearing on February 11, when the ordinance was first adopted. “What are we doing?” said one man. “We play music chairs in people’s lives. We treat them mostly as garbage.”

However, many others told council members that they felt the scale of tolerance was leaning too far away, and that they felt that the community was no longer safe.

“I love Fremont. It’s my home. But we live in fear,” one woman said. “We live in frustration.”

Fremont Mayor Raj Salwan is one of the city officials who were surprised by the rage blows from homeless advocates and local nonprofits. Salwan, a gentle, managed veterinarian who grew up in Fremont, was elected to the non-party mayoral office last November after four years of duties on the city council last November.

He said the city is not going to arrest everyone living outside. According to him, the goal is to provide more leverage to ensure people accept services and ensure safe access to urban space for all residents.

He said the ordinance would give cities the space they need to target bad violations of the law, and spoke about the recent incidents of community members who help homeless people build tree homes. Last year, the city recorded more than 880 complaints from residents reporting concerns about the camp, including public nude, open drug use, human waste and rodent invasion.

“We have said at least 20 times what our intentions are and what we are trying to do,” Salwan said. “I think some people just don’t like the ordinance, so they’re going to make a hole in one way or another.”

“We have said at least 20 times what our intentions are and what we are trying to do,” Fremont Mayor Raj Salwan said of the city’s controversial efforts to crack down on homeless camps.

(Paul Cloda / for the era)

He and other city leaders noted that Fremont has a history of generously investing in efforts to support and bring homeless people back to housing. The city is funding a 66-bed transition shelter for families and adults, as well as a navigation center that helps connect people. Permanent housing. There is Family Resource Center It offers vocational training, mental health services, food assistance and winter hotel programs. The city-funded team will cross the city providing mental health and health care.

Unlike many Bay Area suburbs, Fremont complies with the state’s mandatory home building targets, with more than 1,300 affordable units under development, according to city officials.

“We’re not one of the cities that tried to escape from problems, hide them, or wipe out problems. We’ve always wanted to work on them and deal with them,” Salwan said.

At the same time, he said it was his job to consider how homelessness affects the wider community. What about small businesses next to the camp, where they have lost their customers and struggle to stay open? Or a homeowner who shares his real estate line with a messy Tent City? What should young children and their families do when garbage and second-hand needles are scattered across parks and trails?

“If you want to make the community will want to do more programs, more shelters and more residential navigation centres,” he said.

Still, in the face of threats of enforcement and legal action from homeless service groups, the city council came into effect this week just nine days before it revisited the ordinance.

Salwan proposed to remove the “assistance and behaviour” provision to reaffirm “active relationships with nonprofits, faith-based organizations and other government agencies.” The council also approved the change by 6-1 votes and with the consent of the owner, relaxed the camping ban on private housing property to allow camping in limited circumstances for friends and family.

The ordinance, originally scheduled to come into effect in mid-March, will likely return to the council for another discussion.

City officials said enacting the new law would be a delicate balance. But Fremont Police Chief Sean Washington said “I’d never arrest anyone.” “And in fact, our policy prohibits us from doing that.”

Spokesman Geneva Bosquez said the city will prioritize demolition of large-scale tents and remove small camps that pose immediate health and safety risks. The ordinance requires the city to provide written notice to the camper van prior to the sweep. Bosques said the city will store personal belongings for 90 days.

Brianna Herrera says she has lived in a homeless camp in the Quarry Lakes Regional Recreation area of ​​Fremont for many years.

(Paul Cloda / for the era)

One of Fremont’s more established encampments is hidden along a large creek tree-lined path in the recreational area of ​​the Quarry Lakes area.

It is clear that some campers have spent years here and have expanded their tent homes to multi-room dwellings associated with wooden panels and tarpaulins. One campsite is surrounded by a white picket fence. The other features a large “backyard” with an orange sofa and potted plants.

It is also clear why the city wants to demolish the camp. An estimated 25-30 people create garbage and debris that poses environmental hazards, urge the city to multiple complaints, and an estimated 25-30 people live along the freight.

Fernando Luna can see the hole in her tent, which acts like a window.

(Paul Cloda / for the era)

Brianna Herrera, 31, and her boyfriend, Fernando Luna, were huddled in a tent covered in her own soup, with two-month-old puppies hanging around them. Herrera said she had lived in the camp for years and gave birth to a daughter there.

The tent she shares with her partner has a linoleum floor and a generator that provides electricity. She said they will support themselves by gathering scrap metal for them to sell to recycling centres, bringing about $200 on a good day.

Herrera said she is worried about the new ordinance and someone going to prison for being homeless, but she also understands the risk of camps posing, including the fire, and how much it has become.

She prepares for an evacuation order, like Michael Austin across town.

“We usually have our place cleaned up,” Herrera said. “But we gave up because we had to leave anyway.”