The Gainesville City Commission discussed changes to public encampment ordinances during a Thursday General Policy Committee meeting.
Florida HB 1365 went into effect in October 2024, calling on local governments to ban camping or sleeping on public property. The city created its ordinance two months later in accordance with the law. It defines public camping as “lodging or residing overnight in a temporary outdoor habitation used as a dwelling or living space” with bedding or storage of personal belongings with or without a tent.
The city’s ordinance allows the Gainesville Police Department to enforce the state statute. The commission revisited the ordinances Thursday with a focus on clarifying part of it…