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, Police Commander
Date Prepared: May 21, 2026
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 relatively minimal, at least 33 reports of tent and RV encampments in 2025, 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,
• reduced feeling of safety when allowing children to play outside,
• 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 interest 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 of Brighton. It is not a violation of this section if a person is camping on residential property with express written permission of the property owner for not more than seven consecutive days and for less than fifteen total days in a calendar year.
(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 of Brighton. It is not a violation of this section for a residential property owner to provide express written permission for a person to camp on the owner’s residential property for not more than seven consecutive days and for less than fifteen total days in a calendar year.
(c) A violation of this section is a municipal ordinance violation, and upon conviction thereof, shall be punished pursuant to Article 1-24 of the Brighton Municipal Code.
Adoption of the proposed ordinance would prohibit camping on any private property without owner permission, that isn’t expressly authorized by the City of Brighton. Additionally, private property owners and campers who exceed seven consecutive days or fifteen days in a calendar year can be addressed by officials. Officers would also be able to directly address private property tent and RV camping with lawful mechanisms to compel commercial and residential property owners to address unauthorized encampments, often on unmonitored properties.
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 2026 Camping on Private Property
• PowerPoint Presentation - Ordinance Proposal: Camping on Private Property