DeKalb approves controversial ‘urban camping’ ordinance

Opponents of DeKalb County’s new “urban camping” ordinance argue it criminalizes homelessness, while supporters contend the legislation is aimed at harassing behavior, like aggressive panhandling, and other safety concerns.

The DeKalb Commission’s 5-2 vote adopting the ordinance on Tuesday adds the county to a list of dozens of local governments in Georgia that have laws restricting outdoor sleeping, despite a shortage of places for people experiencing homelessness to go.

Commissioner Michelle Long Spears, whose district includes Brookhaven, Decatur and parts of the city of Atlanta, voted against the ordinance along with Ted Terry, whose “super district” includes the western half of DeKalb.

They said the ordinance is not needed because the county’s code already addresses loitering, impeding traffic and begging on county property.

Terry said the ordinance will harm vulnerable people and lead to more arrests, even as people already languish in jail awaiting mental health evaluations. He said 71% of DeKalb’s jail population have a mental health or substance use diagnosis, citing 2025 data from DeKalb’s community services board and sheriff’s office.

In a statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Friday, DeKalb Sheriff Melody Maddox also said the ordinance will subject unhoused people to possible arrest.

“When that occurs, the cost of operating the jail is increased,” Maddox said. “Our budget is already stretched with the mental and physical health services we are obligated to provide all inmates. Bed space is not the problem but caring for the men and women in our custody involves much more.”

Outgoing Commissioner Nicole Massiah, who sponsored the legislation, called it “disgusting” that some people are characterizing it as an attack on the homeless.

At Tuesday’s commission meeting, Massiah said she heard from residents about some high school students who were trying to go inside a grocery store to buy candy before school “and literally they had people hanging out there that were pushing them for money.”

To assume that everyone who panhandles aggressively is homeless, Massiah added, is insulting to the entire homeless community.

“I think it’s disgusting to imply that everyone that participates in particular behavior has to be unhoused,” said Massiah, whose district covers southwest DeKalb.

The ordinance prohibits camping “in a manner” that blocks access to public property, including streets, sidewalks, benches, parking lots, parks and medians. It adds that no one can be arrested for violating the ordinance unless they have received a warning and an offer of shelter, transportation or other services.

The ordinance lists situations in which a person would not be in violation, including if they are sitting or lying down because of a medical emergency or sitting down while “attending a parade” or patronizing an outdoor cafe.

It adds that prior notice of at least 24 hours must be given before a person’s belongings are removed unless they pose an immediate safety concern. Before removal of a camping site the county will inform individuals of available services and opportunities to retrieve their belongings.

Keyanna Jones Moore, who defeated Massiah in the Democratic primary runoff election in June, told commissioners Tuesday she objected to the use of the word “drifting” in the title of the ordinance.

“Some people find themselves to be in an unhoused situation,” Jones Moore said, adding: “But they are not vagrants, they are not drifters. They are our neighbors, and they deserve compassion.”

When asked to explain the meaning of “drifting” in the context of the legislation, Massiah told the AJC that the county’s law department had recommended using certain words.

Jesse Rabinowitz, a spokesperson for the National Homelessness Law Center in Washington, D.C., said DeKalb’s ordinance will push people deeper into poverty and called it “part of a broader increase in anti-homeless policy championed by the Trump administration.”

“Troublingly, this bill also creates a two-tiered justice system, one where you can sit outside if you are watching a parade but not if you can’t afford the rent,” Rabinowitz said in a statement to the AJC.

“Unless the DeKalb County CEO vetoes this bill, DeKalb will join the over 350 cities that have passed similarly harmful laws in the two years since the shameful Supreme Court ruling in Johnson vs. Grants Pass.”

In its 2024 ruling, the high court reversed an appeals court ruling that had prevented the Oregon city of Grants Pass from enforcing restrictions on people sleeping or camping in public places.

HouseATL, a nonprofit coalition seeking to advance housing affordability, has opposed the camping ordinance and plans to ask CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson to veto it, according to the organization’s executive director, Natallie Keiser.

“It’s a wasteful use of taxpayer dollars,” Keiser said Friday. “Jailing people is very expensive and it’s much more affordable to house people.”

She added the ordinance is inconsistent with the county’s recent approach of taking actions to reduce housing instability and homelessness.

Cochran-Johnson has not signaled she plans to veto the legislation. Even if she did so, her veto could be overturned by the five commissioners who already voted to adopt the ordinance.

In an interview, Cochran-Johnson said the county understands it needs to protect vulnerable populations and has invested in an unhoused shelter that provides nighttime support and has a day center in south DeKalb that provides wraparound services. A second day center is slated to open in Chamblee, she said.