{"id":29134,"date":"2025-07-01T06:16:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T06:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/29134\/"},"modified":"2025-07-01T06:16:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T06:16:11","slug":"houston-looks-to-ban-sleeping-in-public-places-24-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/29134\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston looks to ban sleeping in public places 24\/7"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tLarry Satterwhite, director of the Office of Public Safety and Homeland Security, announced during a June 24 news conference that the city is looking to ban sleeping 24\/7 in public, starting in the downtown and East End area.<\/p>\n

What we know<\/strong><\/p>\n

The city\u2019s current civility ordinance<\/a> states that individuals cannot sit, lie down, or leave any item of bedding material on a sidewalk between the hours of 7 a.m. and 11 p.m.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the challenges of trying to get people off the streets was that at 11 p.m., they knew they could just lie down and go to sleep, and they could by law,\u201d Satterwhite said. \u201cWe weren\u2019t really solving the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, the city is looking to expand the ordinance to ban sleeping and lying down on streets 24\/7, starting with the downtown and East End areas first, before expanding to other parts of the city. Satterwhite said the city wants to start with the downtown area because it\u2019s historically a concentrated area and a hub for homeless individuals.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe only have limited resources,\u201d he said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have enough beds for them to go to. That\u2019s why we can\u2019t also address the whole city. We\u2019re starting where we can and where the problem is most pronounced, trying to address it there and move out to other areas. If we could do the whole city, we would. We simply cannot do that right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The expansion of the civility ordinance is part of the city\u2019s efforts to combat homelessness, with the city launching its $70 million plan <\/a>to end street homelessness earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Michael Nichols, director of the city’s Housing and Development Department, said in a June 16 Quality of Life committee meeting that $210 million is needed for the first three years of the plan. So far, the plan has received funding from multiple sources, such as:<\/p>\n