Minneapolis city council members have introduced ordinances to try and combat homeless encampments across the city.

They’re looking at cities like Denver, Colo., and Duluth, Minn., to get ideas on how to effectively combat homelessness in the city.

It’s an ongoing cycle in Minneapolis: a homeless encampment pops up, the city clears it and then another one emerges close by.

Minneapolis city council members are hoping to stop that pattern with a new effort.

“We want to pilot these to make sure they work correctly,” Jason Chavez, Minneapolis city council member, said.

Council members Chavez, Aurin Chowdhury and Aisha Chughtai are introducing Safe Outdoor Spaces and Safe Parking Spaces to provide a consistent place for those living in homelessness.

Chavez explained at the Nov. 14 full council meeting that the safe outdoor spaces could be tiny homes, structured pods or tents and parking lots where the homeless community could legally park overnight.

“There’s safe parking like in Duluth, which is seasonal, where someone can park their car overnight and get services and meals from a provider,” Chavez said.

The location of these spaces would be city-owned or on non-profit land, if they want to help. According to Chavez, community partners have already expressed interest in operating a site.

Crabtree said a solution is long overdue, but this could help.

“I think that it is definitely a piece of the continuum of care that we need to be providing in our city,” Crabtree said. “I think that would be a great step. It’s certainly not everything, but it’s something.”

Crabtree explained affordable housing is the permanent solution, but what’s available now is still not affordable for everyone.

The next step is to officially draft ordinances related to these efforts.

During last week’s meeting, however, Council Member Andrea Jenkins raised multiple concerns about the proposal.

“I’m not sure who is going to be operating these safe outdoor spaces if they do occur,” said Jenkins. “We have heard from many, many folks who do engage in that kind of work that they don’t have the capacity.”

She also called for measures to ensure the sites are safe both for the residents as well as surrounding communities.

“That has to be part of the ordinances,” said Jenkins.

“I think it’s meant to be a safe haven for residents who want to find permanent housing,” said Chavez, during an interview Thursday. “The safety support would be run through the de-escalation staff they would have on site.”

He explained in Denver, there are staff on-site 24/7 that are trained in de-escalation and provide safety services.

A report by the Minneapolis Office of the City Auditor policy and research division from July shows Denver and Duluth are among at least three dozen cities across the nation that currently operate safe outdoor spaces.

There are both safe parking areas and safe outdoor areas in Denver, which the city describes as “managed campsites” on its website.

According to the report, Denver city staff told Minneapolis City Council members in 2021 “they viewed Safe Outdoor Spaces as an accelerator of their outreach work.”

The report also shows that in 2023, there were 177 individuals served at Denver Safe Outdoor Spaces sites, and 13% of those individuals were successfully placed into permanent housing.

“We need to improve the way we’re addressing unsheltered homelessness,” said Chavez, who described the sites as a short-term solution. “Moving encampments from block to block has not solved this issue, it won’t solve this issue. We need to think about it with a comprehensive approach.”

A City Council committee this week approved asking the city attorney to start drafting safe outdoor space ordinances. The full City Council will vote on the measure in two weeks.

Extensive public engagement is expected during the ordinance drafting process, which Chavez hopes is complete by July 2025.