Aurora lawmakers officially passed an ordinance in a final vote Monday night that gets rid of requirements to provide shelter options and 72-hour notice before sweeping homeless encampments.

The ordinance, which was passed in an initial vote at the last council meeting and in a final vote Monday night, prevailed with three ‘no’ votes from councilmembers Alison Coombs, Ruben Medina and Crystal Murillo.

Previously, city code read that “no city employee authorized to issue a citation shall issue a citation, make an arrest, or otherwise enforce this section against a person camping on public property unless the city has a shelter option available for the person ordered to move from the camp and the person has been offered placement in the shelter option.”

The new ordinance states that “having a shelter option … is preferred before the city abates an unauthorized camp but is not a prerequisite that will prevent the abatement of an unauthorized camp.”

City code also states that “no unauthorized camp will be abated until a minimum of 72 hours’ notice.”

The minimum time’s notice section is removed in the new ordinance.

The ordinance follows a Supreme Court ruling that the Eighth Amendment’s cruel and unusual punishment clause does not prohibit the enforcement of an ordinance prohibiting camping on public property, according to the ordinance language.

Jessica Prosser, the director of housing and community services, said the city has “many more shelter beds” now with the early use of the homeless navigation campus for emergency shelter. 

While the navigation campus, which will act as a “one-stop shop” for homeless services, is not fully operational yet, the facility is currently being used for overnight sheltering, according to Advance Pathways Executive Director Jim Goebelbecker.

The facility has capacity for 140 people currently, according to Goebelbecker.

With the use of the facility, city officials “should be able to meet” the shelter bed requirement for abating homeless camps even if it is no longer a requirement, Prosser said.

“For those who want to dismiss this as just punitive and punishing and we want to put people in jail, it’s false,” said Mayor Pro Tem Steve Sundberg, who sponsored the ordinance. “This is just a small tool in the toolbelt in case it’s needed.”

Coombs argued that the consequences of the ordinance will be punitive whether or not that’s the intention.

“When we create this discretion, it means a person could be immediately moved with no notice and no offer of shelter and could be put in jail for up to 364 days,” Coombs said. “That is punitive.”

The passage of the ordinance adds to a growing list of new and changed efforts Aurora is taking to tackle homelessness in the city — an approach the mayor and city officials have called “tough love.”

Aurora’s 2024 point in time homelessness count, which happened in January, found 697 homeless people. That was 125 more than the year before.

Over the last year, Aurora officials have passed laws to crack down on homeless encampments while establishing a new court — called the HEART court — to address low-level offenses by homeless people.

The city is also working on developing its homeless navigation campus. Aurora bought a former hotel in late May for $26.5 million to serve as the navigation campus, which will be operated by Advance, Inc.

The city’s proposed 2025 budget includes $5.9 million to address homelessness, including funding for the navigation campus. Another $220,000 will go toward the HEART court through the city’s judicial budget.