Police chief outlines 178 enforcement actions since January 2024; councilors question hours, reporting, and impacts on unhoused residents
By Steve Mitchell, Ashland.news
The Ashland City Council reviewed the city’s approach to enforcing prohibited-camping regulations during its study session on Monday, Nov. 17.
Ashland Police Chief Tighe O’Meara presented an overview of the city’s current prohibited-camping ordinance, which was revised in January 2024 to comply with new Oregon statutes and align with federal court rulings, including the now-overturned Grants Pass case.
Under the ordinance, camping in public spaces is generally prohibited, except in a city-designated area known as the “night lawn.”
Since the rules were updated, the city has issued 178 enforcement actions, including 25 misdemeanors, O’Meara said. About half of those citations occurred in the designated camping area, typically for violations such as staying beyond permitted hours.
O’Meara acknowledged that it might seem contradictory to have prohibited-camping violations in the very area where camping is allowed, but noted that camping is only permitted from 7 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. (during winter, people may begin setting up at 4:30 p.m. because it is dark by 5 p.m.). Camping outside of those hours — whether on the night lawn or elsewhere — remains illegal.
Councilors sought clarification on the regulations. Councilor Gina DuQuenne suggested extending the hours people may stay on the lawn, emphasizing that officers are consistently kind to those camping there. She said people often end up “hurrying up, scurrying, and scattering,” especially in the rain, when they need time to dry out their tents and other equipment.
DuQuenne asked O’Meara whether extending checkout time to 8 a.m. would help law enforcement. O’Meara replied that it would not, noting that even when he arrives at work around 9 a.m., people are still clearing out. DuQuenne said she intends to ask the council to consider the change regardless.
Councilor Bob Kaplan requested more detailed citation data, saying the information provided was insufficient for analyzing how the regulations have worked over time. He said the data are unhelpfully aggregated over an 18 month period from January 2024 through June 2025, with no data from the last four months.
Ahead of the study session, Assistant City Attorney Carmel Zahran said Ashland compares favorably with municipalities that have faced lawsuits for sweeping camps or failing to make reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act. She pointed to the city’s investments in upgrading the emergency shelter, its homelessness working groups, and collaborations with local organizations.
Mayor Tonya Graham said more detailed enforcement data will help the council review processes when the designated camping area is at capacity and refine the city’s overall response to homelessness and public camping.
Email Ashland.news associate editor Steve Mitchell at stevem@ashland.news.
Correction: (Nov. 20, 2025) An earlier version of this article incorrectly reported Councilor Bob Kaplan’s comments regarding the citation data.
