Hampton City Council in June will consider an ordinance prohibiting people from camping, lying down and sleeping on public property.
The discussion comes as the city and other localities on the Peninsula are collaborating to address rising rates and lengths of homelessness.
Advocates hope that includes building a shelter that’s open year-round.
Hampton got a first look at the ordinance on Wednesday, brought at the request of city council members.
The proposal, if approved, would make it illegal to reside or sleep on public property in a tent, car or out in the open. It would also ban storing personal items on public property, including sidewalks, parks and school grounds.
The ordinance would not apply to temporary enclosures or cots set up on public beaches when they are open.
Council members are concerned about panhandlers who leave their possessions and trash on traffic medians, and people sleeping on sidewalks and in parks and recreation facilities.
“We don’t think that’s a good look for Hampton and we want something better for them,” Mayor Jimmy Gray said.
In 2022, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that laws banning overnighting on public lands were unconstitutional. The court argued that the ordinances violated the Eighth Amendment and amounted to cruel and unusual punishment of people without permanent housing.
However, the Supreme Court overturned that ruling in June 2024, clearing cities to enforce anti-camping laws so long as they were applied generally and did not target a specific group of people.
The National Alliance to End Homelessness says anti-camping ordinances criminalize homelessness and, this year, released research that suggests the laws instill distrust of services for people experiencing homelessness and disproportionately affect people of color.
Julie Dixon is vice president for The Planning Council, a Norfolk-based organization which manages the Peninsula’s database on people experiencing homelessness. Dixon has concerns about the ordinance.
“They need treatment if they have any kind of substance use or behavioral health issue, and then otherwise they need support and they need life skills and job training,” Dixon said.
Violating the ban would be a misdemeanor, punishable with up to a year in jail or up to a $2,500 fine. Unattended items stored on public property could be seized, but they must be held for 30 days and returned upon request. Trash, unsanitary items and weapons could be disposed of at the city’s discretion.
Newport News evicted people from a street encampment in July. Virginia Beach cleared more than three dozen between April and October of last year, leading to five arrests.
City Manager Mary Bunting said criminal penalties would be a last resort and that the focus is on connecting people without housing with support services.
The ordinance would require police to warn people before citing them and give them time to pack up and leave. Officers would also be instructed to share information on available shelters or programs. Second offenses could receive a court summons.
“We don’t want to round people up and put them in jail, that’s not how we address homelessness in our community,” Gray said. “We want to get people the services they need and then into the housing they need.”
Gray said that is why Hampton is collaborating with the regional workgroup. This is a response to Viam Advising’s May 13 release of the Virginia Peninsula Homelessness Study. The organization’s recommendations are expected in 90 days.
Newport News commissioned the study to identify what causes people to lose housing and ways to address the issues in Hampton, Newport News, Poquoson, Williamsburg, James City County and York County.
Viam projected rates of homelessness to increase through 2028, and that people will stay homeless for longer periods. Shawn Griffith, one of the report’s authors, said data suggests that calls to the regional housing crisis hotline will rise 15% annually. In November, he projected the number of people without housing to rise 5% each year.
Homelessness on the Peninsula is also starting to affect people with higher incomes at greater rates, and disproportionately affects Black people. While being about 33% of the population, Black people constituted 75% of those without permanent housing in 2024.
The main reason people lose housing is affordability. Viam calculated rental data since 2019, finding average rent costs have increased by double digits in each of the Peninsula’s six localities. Figures ranged from 39% in northern Newport News to 61% in Hampton. Fleeing domestic violence and losing work are also top causes.
One in five people experiencing homelessness lives with severe mental illness or substance abuse disorders.
Increasing regional cooperation is a central theme of Viam’s recommendations. The report recommends a regional rehousing system and improving the leadership structure; streamlining the process for people to get help and reducing the duplication of services; and increasing outreach and housing capacity.
“The lack of a regional street outreach team means those who are most vulnerable on the Virginia Peninsula are likely underserved. Given the lack of permanent emergency shelter on the Virginia Peninsula, the bulk of individuals experiencing homelessness are likely to be unsheltered.”
Viam estimated the system would need another $27 million per year to “bring an effective end to homelessness in the region.” The system currently gets more than $6 million per year, much from state and federal sources.
Griffith recommended investing first in bolstering rapid rehousing programs, such as short-term rental assistance, and permanent supportive housing, including subsidized rentals alongside other support.
He said building shelters without fixing the rehousing side could leave people in shelters with no path toward a permanent place to live.
Each year, the Peninsula does a count of people experiencing homelessness and the number of housing slots available.
The 2024 housing inventory count found permanent supportive housing slots were 95% full and rapid rehousing slots and transitional housing were at or over capacity. Meanwhile, the count found emergency shelters at 75% capacity, with 342 of 457 beds being used.
But the housing count is imperfect.
It is done annually across the United States on a single night in January. That means the data could be skewed if the count is taken on a slow night for shelters. It’s also conducted when winter shelters are open, which make up more than 50% of emergency shelter beds. There is no recount once the shelters close in the spring.
Several programs also have restrictions on who they serve, such as shelters for families, women fleeing domestic violence or people with mental illnesses. Viam heard from people experiencing homelessness that it can be difficult for single men without mental illnesses to find support.
“They cannot get into emergency shelter and when they try to sleep outside, they are often moved by the police or cited for trespassing.”
According to the Peninsula count, the number of year-round emergency shelter beds also decreased by 71 between 2023 and 2024 because of the stop of COVID funds to place people in hotels, Dixon said. Permanent supportive housing and rapid rehousing slots also decreased as landlords got out of the programs.
The Peninsula reported a decrease in the number of people without housing from 2023 to 2024. But similar to the housing count, the point-in-time count is a one-day evaluation and doesn’t fully depict the scope of homelessness, according to Viam’s study.
The report indicates that 2,000 or more people experience homelessness throughout the year.
“There’s not enough capacity,” Dixon said.
Virginia Organizing advocates say that’s why the grassroots group wants Hampton and Newport News, which have the largest number of people without housing on the Peninsula, to build a year-round shelter.
Aaron Easter is a chapter leader for Newport News and Hampton and says a regional shelter without seasonal or demographic restrictions could connect people to existing services.
“It’s important to have services working with that shelter so that people can get help getting back on their feet, transition from homelessness to getting somewhere to stay or helping get a job if they need it,” Easter said. “But there still is the need just for somewhere to stay.”
Mendel Service, who is in Virginia Organizing, is a former library employee in Norfolk. She lost housing after a divorce and slept in her car around the region from 2000 to 2006 before getting a spot in public housing. Since 2010, she’s lived in Section 8 housing in Newport News.
Service said a regional shelter with wraparound services would have been a big help.
“It would have given me a chance to stay on my feet and to work on the areas of my life that were still functioning,” she said.
Virginia Organizing worked with student researchers at Christopher Newport University to produce a list of 37 properties with three preferred locations that could house a shelter. The study accounted for proximity to social services, public transportation, health care and grocery stores, among other amenities.
“It would at least give a stopgap,” Service said. “If we do it right with the right wraparound services, nobody has to stay poor — nobody has to stay homeless.”
Councilmember Cleon Long said he’s focused on bolstering regional permanent housing programs over building additional shelter space.
“I think it is smart to spend effort and money towards the long-term plan of getting a person back to self-sufficient than just a temporary fix in the front end,” he said.
Bunting said Hampton is talking with Peninsula localities about a year-round shelter run by the cities. Hampton has $1.5 million set aside for it.
Newport News is also participating in talks. Communication staff said in an email the city “will decide on the funding when there is a formal determination on the regional response to the homelessness condition in the area.”
