Changes also up for approval in ordinances allowing expulsion from defined areas of the city and penalties for public urination

By Morgan Rothborne, Ashland.news 

Ashland City Council will review a master plan for the 2200 Ashland St. property during the Monday evening study session. 

The plan was recently completed by the ad hoc committee created to draft the plan and will be reviewed by council for the first time Monday. It is scheduled to come before council again for further discussion and possible action at the Dec. 3 business meeting, according to meeting materials. 

The 2200 master plan will be accompanied by a presentation on the homeless services assessment report (HSAR) created by an ad hoc committee earlier this year. City staff would be presenting the report to council again to ascertain “which, if any, actions outlined in the HSAR and summary the Council is willing to move forward with,” the agenda item said. 

“Once staff has some direction, staff can conduct a more detailed analysis of costs and

timeline for implementation and bring that information back to the council to assist the Council is finalizing budget or staffing implications of moving forward with the chosen actions,” the staff report says. 

At the Ashland City Council business meeting Tuesday, City Manager Sabrina Cotta will present an update on the winter shelter, the city’s dusk-to-dawn sleeping area (also known as the night lawn) and state funding for shelter services. 

“The City is working to partner with a service provider to run a shelter every night through the winter. Pending contract negotiations this will begin January 1 and run through the end of

March. Due to the 2200 Ashland Street building not meeting fire code requirements for sleeping, we cannot use it for more than 90 days beginning January 1, 2025. We utilized the 90-day threshold for 2024 earlier this year for that location,” the agenda item said. 

To provide an every night shelter for the winter shelter in January, city staff will be exploring potential state funding to support the shelter and to support additional services at the 2200 Ashland St. property which could include the return of the shower trailers to the site, according to the agenda item.

Cotta’s report to council on homelessness services Tuesday will also include an update on its designated sleeping area, the dusk-to-dawn area also called the night lawn. The sleeping area costs around $30,000 annually to operate due to costs for portable toilets and trash services at the location, the agenda item said. The city is also in discussion with Rogue Retreat to allow the nonprofit to use the city’s 13 pallet house shelters. 

Cotta will also be presenting a proposal from nonprofit Southern Oregon Housing for All to provide storage to guests at the city’s dusk-to-dawn sleeping area. 

In other council business Tuesday, council will formally swear in new municipal Judge Ryan Mulkins. The item was listed as a special presentation with no attached documents. Council voted to appoint Mulkins to the role at a special meeting Oct. 30, as previously reported by Ashland.news. 

Council will also hear a series of first readings for potential ordinance changes related to law enforcement. 

Police Chief Tighe O’Meara will present a proposal to amend the enhanced law enforcement area’s “persistent violator” ordinance. Persistent violators at present must commit multiple offenses before officers can use the ELEA to expel the person from the area. The proposed amendment would allow “a law enforcement officer can expel someone from an ELEA if the officer has probable cause to believe that the offense occurred in that zone,” according to the staff report. An additional agenda item further amends an officer’s ability to trespass an individual from the zone. 

Ashland does not have an ordinance precluding public urination or defecation and has used the “scattering rubbish” ordinance for those cases. O’Meara will present a first reading of an ordinance to give officers the power to fine individuals for this action “in public spaces, other than a restroom provided for that purpose.” 

The meetings will be held at the council chamber at 1175 E Main St. The study session Monday begins at 5:30 p.m., while the Tuesday business meeting begins at 6 p.m. 

Both meetings can be attended in person or watched remotely through Channel 9 or Channels 180 and 181 (Charter Communications) or live streamed via rvtv.sou.edu select RVTV Prime. Public testimony will be accepted and can be delivered either via Zoom, in person, or as written comment. To sign up for public comment, fill out the public testimony form. 

Email Ashland.news reporter Morgan Rothborne at [email protected].