Department of Police
Reference: Ordinance Proposal - Camping on Private Property
To: Mayor Gregory Mills and Members of City Council
Through: Michael P. Martinez, City Manager
Prepared By: Mike Domenighini, Support Services Police Commander
Date Prepared: November 7, 2025
PURPOSE
To inform, update, and solicit council’s consideration for the establishment of a municipal ordinance to address community concerns related to encampments on private property.
BACKGROUND
Historically, the Brighton Police Department has fielded calls regarding encampments on private property across the City of Brighton. While the volume of calls regarding private property encampments is minimal, approximately 17 reports of tent encampments and 12 reports of RV encampments in 2025 as of November 1, the public impact and the workload per call can be resource intensive. Calls of this nature can take months to fully resolve, with mitigation ultimately relying on cooperative property owners.
Steps involved to mitigate a private property tent or RV encampment include:
• Making initial contact with the private property owner,
o providing guidance, resources, and ordinance guidelines,
o with property owner permission, posting the encampment with trespassing notices,
o issuing a notice of violation to the private property owner to set a clean-up deadline,
• Repeated follow-up visits,
o Patrol Officer safety inspection to ensure occupants have cleared and no safety threats persist,
o Community Service Officer inspection for compliance, possibly resulting in a citation and initiating abatement action.
The property owner incurs the expense of cleanup and any fines or penalties while city staff expend significant personnel hours. Mitigation delays and court processes can result in long-term blight with abatement potentially resulting in additional costs for the city. In many cases, expensive hazardous material certified cleaning crews are needed.
Citizens who report issues with tent and RV encampments cite the following reasons for requesting police assistance:
• suspected criminal activity,
• noise concerns,
• human waste accumulation,
• trash accumulation,
• trespassing,
• aesthetic concerns.
Private property encampments can be established both with and without the knowledge of the property owner. In some cases, property owners who are aware of encampments on their property might be facilitating the encampments to provide a safe space for people experiencing homelessness. In other cases, RV encampments may serve as on-premises housing for friends or family of the property owner.
In situations where a private property owner is uncooperative or difficult to contact, enforcement can be exceptionally challenging. Absent the proposed ordinance, enforcement relies on a report of trespassing from a private property owner. If the private property owner is unwilling to request removal in accordance with existing trespassing statutes, a tent or RV encampment can’t be removed by public officials.
In lieu of the proposed ordinance, Community Service Officers and Police Officers addressing citizen complaints rely on the secondary offenses that encampments may generate. Officers often address noise, waste accumulation, and suspected criminal activity at locations with encampments, but are unable to directly address or remove the camp itself. Properties that fail to mitigate these secondary offenses may be subject to an abatement action on the property. However, as the encampment itself is not currently prohibited, officers may have to initiate repeated enforcement or abatement actions to continue to maintain a property in violation.
The City of Brighton has a legitimate government purpose in protecting private spaces from environmental damage, as well as the promotion of sanitation, public health, and safety. City staff created the proposed ordinance to address existing and anticipated citizen concerns regarding the unauthorized use of private property for camping as well as the unauthorized establishment of camp sites.
Proposed ordinance 8-26-20, intended to address the concerns noted above, provides the following enforcement mechanisms, in summary:
Camp or Camping means the use of private property, other than a permitted residence or accessory dwelling unit, for the purpose of overnight occupancy, or to reside or dwell temporarily in a place by using or erecting a shelter, temporary or otherwise. Camping includes using a conveyance for overnight occupancy. Camping does not include napping during the day or picnicking.
Unlawful Camping on Private Property
(a) It is unlawful for any person to camp on private property, except in any location where camping is expressly authorized by the City.
(b) It is unlawful for a property owner to allow camping on the owner’s property, except in any location where camping is expressly authorized by the City.
Adoption of the proposed ordinance would prohibit camping on any private property, with or without owner permission, that isn’t expressly authorized by the City of Brighton. Specifically, officers would be able to directly address private property tent and RV camping with lawful mechanisms to compel commercial and residential property owners to address encampments on unmonitored properties. Additionally, city staff would be able to restrict the establishment of unauthorized tent or RV campgrounds on private property.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Financial impact to the city should be minimal and limited to costs related to enforcement, including materials fees for citations, court time, and staff hours. Depending on adjudication, the city may also collect fines and fees consistent with existing charges. Both cost and revenue are anticipated to be negligible.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
City staff recommend adoption of the proposed ordinance to provide officers with a mechanism to address community concerns regarding encampments on private property.
OPTIONS FOR COUNCIL CONSIDERATION
1.) Accept as proposed
2.) Deny as proposed
3.) Accept with modifications
ATTACHMENTS
• Proposed Ordinance - ORD 2025 Camping on Private Property
• PowerPoint Presentation - Ordinance: Camping on Private Property