A divided Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board voted to stop permitting homeless people to camp in city parks, ending a program that gave sanctuary to hundreds last summer but also brought complaints about violence and drug use.
In addition to repealing last summer's directives that created temporary permits for encampments, commissioners directed staff to create a new Unsheltered People Policy.
Last June, about 200 tents sprang up in Powderhorn Park amid Gov. Tim Walz's emergency eviction moratorium, and the Park Board offered sanctuary to all homeless people. A month later, there were nearly 40 encampments in parks citywide with some hosting nearly 300 occupants.
Public backlash to overcrowding, violence and discarded needles soon grew so loud that the board unanimously voted to claw back the number of encampments to just 20 parks with no more than 25 tents each, subject to temporary permits.
The Park Board's permitting process has been suspended for the winter, when people camping outside face life-threatening risks.
On Wednesday, commissioners voted 5-3 to cancel encampment permits altogether and let agencies that specialize in human services, such as Hennepin County, take the lead on serving people living in the parks, with the Park Board providing backup when needed.
"It focuses the attention of the Park Board on being part of collaborative solutions with all of our partners, as opposed to focusing on how we maintain or manage encampments," said Park Board President Jono Cowgill, who voted for the resolution per staff's recommendation. "In the past, the Park Board stepped up in a way that they could, but this was not something that was in our direct wheelhouse."
Over the past year, the Park Board has been inundated by passionate demands from activists for more resources to serve homeless people and from neighbors who felt it had created a situation the board was unprepared to manage.
