Laserfiche WebLink
ORDINANCE NO. <br />AN ORDINANCE BANNING UNAUTHORIZED CAMPING WITHIN THE CITY <br />LIMITS OF THE CITY OF BATESVILLE; PROVIDING FOR A SERVERABLTY <br />CLAUSE; PROVIDING FOR A SAVINGS CLAUSE; PROVIDING A PENALITY <br />CLAUSE; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. <br />WHEREAS, the City of Batesville ("City") seeks to provide for the health, safety and welfare of <br />its citizens; and <br />WHEREAS, the City has authority pursuant to its police powers as a home -rule municipal <br />corporation to adopt and enforce ordinances and regulations to protect the health, welfare, and <br />safety of the public; and <br />WHEREAS, unauthorized camping frequently results in the deposit, storage, discharge, and <br />improper disposal of human excreta, wastewater, garbage, and other organic wastes; <br />WHEREAS, as the Council finds sewage, human excreta, wastewater, garbage, or other organic <br />wastes deposited, stored, discharged, or exposed in such way as to be a potential instrument or <br />medium in disease transmission to a person or between persons to be a public health nuisance; <br />and <br />WHEREAS, the debris and paraphernalia associated with unauthorized camping may provide <br />harborage to rodents and other vectors that carry and transmit disease and may be innately <br />harmful to people and property; and <br />WHEREAS, unauthorized camping is associated with both the presence of flammable debris <br />and the making of campfires in unsuitable vessels or in areas that are not properly cleared, all of <br />which pose hazards for wildfires and structural fires that endanger nearby properties; and <br />WHEREAS, unauthorized camping is a source of visual blight that diminishes the appeal and <br />perceived value of both the subject property and those around it, diminishing incentives for <br />owners and occupants of adjacent properties to maintain their own property, and exacerbating <br />challenges to impacted areas; and <br />WHEREAS, unauthorized camping most frequently occurs on unattended or vacant properties <br />and frequently constitutes criminal trespass; and <br />WHERAS, it is in the legitimate interest of the City of Batesville to protect the health, safety, <br />and welfare of its citizens by setting reasonable standards for the maintenance of property within <br />the city limits and by abating the nuisance related to unauthorized camping on properties within <br />the city limits; and <br />WHEREAS, the proposed prohibitions are intended to provide law enforcement the necessary <br />tools to remove unauthorized persons from property where camping is not allowed, regardless of <br />whether the owner cannot be located or is unavailable; and <br />