Tucson City Council voted Tuesday night to ban camping in washes — adding to the city’s existing measures that restrict where unhoused people can sleep, including parks and other public spaces.
Violation of the ordinance will be a misdemeanor, and punishable by community service, fines up to $250, imprisonment up to 10 days, or probation for up to a year.
The vote passed 5 to 1, with Kevin Dahl voting against and Lane Santa Cruz absent. The vote came with boos and heckles from the crowd, and following a public comment period that was overwhelmingly against the wash ordinance.
“My daughter and I were once nearly homeless ourselves but we were able to go to a friend’s for a little bit,” Kristina Sonderegger said during public comment. “It’s very cruel to expect people to have somewhere to go even if they don’t have anywhere to go. What are they supposed to do? ”
The wash ordinance was put forward by the city manager’s office to pre-empt potential residents’ claims through Proposition 312, a state-level initiative approved by voters in 2024.
The effort includes allowing Arizonans to apply for a limited tax refund for documented expenses they incurred to address problems when people who are unhoused create a “public nuisance on the property owner’s” land.
Since the measure passed there have been 14 applications representing eight properties, the Arizona Department of Revenue told Arizona Luminaria.
The city also cited concerns about camps in washes impacting water moving through washes in case of floods, and the safety of first responders answering calls in washes.
Reyes Suarez, speaking during public comment, said he was more concerned about the impact of extreme heat on homeless communities than the dangers named by city officials. Pima County saw an extreme heat warning the week of the council vote, with temperatures expected to reach 113 degrees.
“More people will die from heat exposure than floods,” Suarez said. “I’m aware of the cooling centers but they are often too far and too distant especially if we’re going to be bringing back fares.” (After five years with no public transit fares, Tucson is weighing options to bring back some fares amid a budget crunch.)
Mutual aid groups responding to the decision also said the stakes were life and death for homeless communities.
“To ban housing structures like tents and tarps… is essentially a death sentence for many individuals,” a Wednesday letter from a coalition of groups including Community Care Tucson, Community On Wheels and Amphi Libration Mutual Aid wrote. “The mayor and city council have confirmed with this decision that they are more willing to waste resources on policies that have already been proven ineffective and will continue to erode trust between the city and unhoused folks.”
City council also voted to add language to the park ordinance to prohibit camping at all times without written permission 72 hours ahead of time, rather than just between 10:30 p.m. and 6 a.m.
The park ordinance language will also include a change in the definition of “camping” for the ordinance that regulates sleeping in city parks to align with the new wash ordinance.
The ordinance changes the definition of camping to align with language in the City of Grants Pass v. Johnson Supreme Court ruling, which said that cities could arrest and criminally charge unhoused people for sleeping in public, regardless of whether they had anywhere else to go.
Camping would be defined as “setting up or remaining in or at a campsite, with “campsite” defined as a place where bedding, sleeping bags, tents, shade structures, boxes, or other material is used for bedding purposes, or where any stove or fire is placed for the purpose of maintaining a temporary place to live,” the city’s memo noted.
In March 2025, Tucson passed an ordinance limiting people from standing in medians where the speed is over 30 miles an hour, with violations to result in community service, fines up to $250 or imprisonment not to exceed 24 hours.
Since the ordinance went into effect, 67 people have been cited, the Tucson Police Department told KOLD 13 News.
Audience members at the city council meeting held signs opposing the ordinance throughout the meeting.
The wash ordinance would be enforced under the city’s existing Homeless Encampment Protocol, which can be initiated by a public complaint by phone or through an online reporting tool, according to the city manager’s office. Encampments are assessed in three tiers, with the third being “high problem encampments,” and some encampments tagged for immediate removal.
After an encampment is removed by city workers or local police, officials will often put up a sign saying anyone who returns to the area will be charged with trespassing.
Still, without somewhere for people to go, removing them was not always a clear answer, said one speaker at public comment.
Veronica Hanley said she runs a business near Santa Rita Park, and had called the police on people trespassing near property multiple times. Those efforts didn’t resolve the situation she had called police about, and officers had responded aggressively, said Hanley.
“I had to arm myself before calling the police and when they arrived they seemed more concerned about the fact that I was armed after I informed them voluntarily it was safe and holstered,” she said. “You’re planning to clear people from the washes too so where do you think they’re going to go?”
The newest city council member Rocque Perez, who was appointed to the Ward 5 seat when, voted in favor of the measure.
“I do feel a clear mandate from Ward 5 to support this measure not as a rejection of unhoused individuals but out of a belief that no one should live in a wash or park,” Perez said.
He also expressed concern that Tucson was not doing enough to share information about the services available to unhoused residents.
“I think that there is a clear level of either miscommunication or a lack of communication on the available resources that the city affords our residents,” he said.
Still, even as Tucson continues to fund outreach services and build transitional housing, a recent report shows that most people who interact with service systems see little outcome.
72% of people seeking homeless services were not served in any type of housing, according to a report from the University of Arizona’s Southwest Institute for Research on Women.
Some public comment speakers appealed to the reality that many people in Tucson are financially struggling, and called for more investment in permanent supportive housing and outreach teams.
“Most people are a lot closer to being homeless than they are to becoming a billionaire,” Sandra Gonzalez said during public comment. “Forcing people out of visible spaces without offering housing or services increases health risks for them and doesn’t solve anything for the community.”
Speaking ahead of the vote Tuesday, Tucson mayor Regina Romero called unsheltered homelessness in Tucson a public health crisis. While she heard the public comment call for more housing in Tucson, the resources were limited, she said.
“I wish we had much more money to be able to provide dignified and safe housing for everyone but we’ve got to be able to respond to what voters in the city of Tucson told us they wanted,” Romero said. “Elections have consequences and voters in the city of Tucson were very clear by passing Proposition 312 that they want jurisdictions, both the city and the county, to do something about the unsheltered crisis.”
As the vote concluded as the last item on Tuesday’s agenda, one member of the audience was removed as they shouted against the ordinance. Other members of the audience called out their frustration with the measure as the meeting adjourned, yelling “shame” and “you need to help your community.”
As he left the meeting, Suarez sighed heavily.
“This isn’t going to help anyone,” he said. “We are throwing these people in a meat grinder.”
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