Fayetteville City Council Meeting
Tuesday May 2 – 5:00 pm Rally
5:30 pm City Council Meeting
Fayetteville City Admin Building
113 W. Mountain St. Fayetteville
There are those who imagine that homeless people are really not quite human. They’re dirty, probably drug addicts and criminals. I don’t believe most Omni folks are in that camp. We’re the bleeding hearts who hand them change out the car window and wish them well.
But nobody really know how to help them. That includes our city government. In it’s wish to take care of the earth and our city, our city codes are designed in ways that don’t include homeless people. Those folks are very much a messy problem that nobody knows what to do with.
For several years Gladys and Richard Tiffany, the director of Omni and her husband have been quietly allowing homeless people to live on a rental lot they own. When the homeless population started swelling during covid (remember how all the big rental companies kept evicting people in spite of the moratoriums? It includes those people) up to a dozen would be camping on that lot most times.
Now to keep our city clean, the department of planning and zoning is changing codes to force the Tiffany family to evict those hapless people. They’ll be forced out into rough camps where the city and the university will take turns evicting them every few weeks when neighbors close to them start complaining. They go back and forth from city walking trails to university woodlands in an exhausting cycle that doesn’t end because there really is no place for them. They’re forced out of “unsanctioned camps” along trails, but there are no “sanctioned camps” and certainly no housing for them to retreat to. This little group comes to the Tiffany’s land because they’re safe from police sweeps. Nobody wants it to be this way, but nobody can think of anything else to do.
The problem with this code change, titled “Campground Regulations”
The proposed ordinance the city wants to implement has several unintended consequences for both homeless people and housed people. The new definition of “camps” infringe on the rights of property owners by putting more rules on how they can use their own property. For instance, you won’t be allowed to let any of your relatives stay in an RV parked in your own yard unless you have a conditional use permit to allow it. (Very hard to get BTW) And the new code will deeply criminalize homelessness in ways that will make poverty harder without solving any of the problems associated with it.
In addition, other people – Omni folks and others – also shelter homeless people on their property. They will also be at risk of prosecution under these new codes. This change is not in the interest of the soul of Fayetteville.
Tuesday May 2 the City Council will be discussing the new codes. If you’re interested in the homeless situation in Fayetteville you’re invited to attend this meeting to hear the discussion, and if you wish you can also make public comment to the council.
At 5:00 pm a rally will form on the sidewalk outside the city admin building in support of human dignity and addressing the issue of homelessness. At 5:30 everyone willing can go into the City Council chambers as the meeting begins. If you can’t be there at 5:00, the issue is mid-way through the agenda so you can come later and expect to hear discussion about it.
Your supportive presence will help the Tiffany family defend their right to help the homeless. It will also help the city see that Fayetteville believes in the rights and dignity of all people and wants to see homeless people treated fairly. You can make a difference!
For more information email omni@omnicenter.org with any questions