The city of Phoenix wants to cut down on syringes and other types of biohazards being left in public spaces. So the Phoenix City Council has been considering a new ordinance to limit medical treatment in city parks.
But some homeless service organizations are raising concerns about the latest draft of the plan.
When the City Council first discussed the ordinance in December, they heard hours of public comments. Most commenters opposed the ordinance, saying it would ban essential medical services for unhoused people, pushing them instead to emergency departments or leaving people in crisis without help.
The council opted to delay implementation of the ordinance to allow more time for public feedback. It is currently set to take effect June 1.
In the meantime, the city has continued to hear from stakeholders and make updates to the ordinance.
But homeless advocates say they are now even more concerned with the newest draft of the plan released in late March.
“The revision that we just received, to me, didn’t reflect the communication that we’ve had,” said Kim Despres, CEO of Circle the City, an organization that provides medical care to homeless patients.
The revised ordinance would apply not only to medical treatment but also food distribution. And it would allow just two of those types of events to take place per month in each park.
Despres said Circle the City’s mobile medical teams typically visit multiple parks daily. She said that flexibility is important for finding unhoused people in need. The proposed permitting process, Despres said, would be impractical.
“We would have to predict four months in advance, what park we would go to, who would have the most sick people that day at that park, and we could only go to one,” Despres said. “It certainly wouldn’t work for what we do.”
Phoenix is seeking public input on the plan in an online survey and at community meetings scheduled for April 14, 15 and 16.
The council is expected to vote on the ordinance on May 6.
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