County supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a strengthened version of a camping ordinance covering unincorporated areas.
The board is attempting to prevent wildfires that originate in homeless encampments, a persistent problem for first responders. The ordinance is set to take effect in 30 days, according to Supervisor Joel Anderson’s office.
Anderson’s office said it will prohibit encampments that endanger community safety on public property, or damage public property or structures, and also ban anyone from using combustible ignition or fire sources, maintaining an open fire or discarding lit materials.
Those violating the ordinance “would be subject to enforcement under other relevant laws and regulations, including, but not limited to, stay-away orders, public nuisance and other injunctive relief,” Anderson’s office said.
Law enforcement officers may only write a citation “to enforce a violation of section 73.108 where the violation poses an imminent risk of death, serious injury, or spread of wildfire or communicable disease,” his office added.
For example, someone burning a fire outside of designated public campgrounds could be cited, although it would not be considered criminal.
In a statement after the vote, Anderson said that as peak fire season approaches in the county, he was “grateful to (his) colleagues for their unanimous support of protecting rural residents from dangerous fires created by homeless (people) and their encampments.”
On May 6, the Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 to request a draft of the updated policy.
It was the latest step in the process that began in October 2023, when the board directed former Chief Administrative Officer Helen Robbins-Meyer to revise the ordinance, which has been in effect since 1968.
The board provided more feedback last August to her successor, Ebony Shelton. In March, the board directed county staff members to provide feedback to the proposal.
Anderson has been focused on the issue of backcountry fires caused by human activitity.
Updated 4:30 p.m. May 20, 2025
