EDITORIAL: Reality check on camping

It will interesting to see how this week’s revocation of the long-standing ban on lodging or sleeping on public land in Laguna Beach will play out.

The City Council on Tuesday acceded to the demands of homeless advocates and the ACLU, and it will now be legal for people to camp or sleep on public property, within some parameters.

There will even be an allowance for some sort of shelter “” tents or umbrellas open on at least two sides and no taller or wider than six feet will be allowed.

The 81-year-old ordinance repealed this week goes back to the beginning of the city. It was enacted in 1927, the year the city was incorporated. Back then, folks would come from inland spots and set up elaborate tent cities on the sand to escape the summer heat. They’d stay for weeks or even months, then break down their semi-permanent camps and move out until the next year.

Presumably, once the city was formed, it was considered undesirable for the public beaches to be taken over by summer squatters. The ordinance that was repealed specifically permitted sleeping between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. “” daylight hours. So beachgoers could nap on the sand, or park visitors could take a siesta during the day, but not reside there day and night.

The repeal of this old law is raising hopes for homeless advocates who see it as part of a process of providing permanent shelter for people who are vulnerable.

That will be a long process, and we’re not sure that this change will engender the goodwill in the community that will be politically necessary for such a program.

It also raises alarm bells for those who see it as an invitation for anyone to “come on down” to claim their spot of sand and get a great ocean view.

For them, here’s a reality check.

Lodging on public or private property without permission is still a violation of the statewide loitering law, City Attorney Philip Kohn emphasizes.

Kohn says the city will issue citations to people who are found to be sleeping “without necessity” on city land, and will enforce the prohibition against sleeping on private property without permission.

“Officer Jason Farris [the city’s homeless beat officer] will continue to contact people to find out their circumstances, and we won’t cite people who are there [sleeping on public property] by necessity,” Kohn said.

That means Farris will have the unenviable job of deciding who does and does not have an alternative to living on public property, and therefore the Constitutional right to a night’s sleep there.

It also means that people won’t be able to camp recreationally on the city’s parks and beaches.