Salem mulls ‘camping' ban as tents pop up amid growing homelessness

Officials in Salem, Massachusetts, are considering a ban on camping in an effort to clear homeless people's tents from public walkways.

For Shannon Donovan, each night is spent along a small stretch of sidewalk.

"Failure is part of my story," said Donovan. "To have people come down and misjudge us — a lot of us are good people."

Over the last year, she and dozens of others have been living inside tents along Peabody Street in Salem, spurring city leaders to step in.

"We're a smaller city, but we're struggling with a lot of the same challenges with homelessness and housing," said Salem Mayor Dominick Pangallo.

"We try to look at it with as much compassion as we can," said Salem Police Chief Lucas Miller.

The mayor and police chief are calling for an ordinance to ban camping, arguing it should be illegal to have tents pitched in public spaces if the city provides shelter options within 15 miles.

"We're going to take care of your belongings, we're going to want to make sure that you can succeed and thrive," said Pangallo.

"The encampment will tend to grow," Miller said. "Without assistance, people won't find shelter by themselves."

But at a committee meeting last week, some speakers balked at the proposal.

City Councilor Jeff Cohen says those differing views are part of the challenge when it comes to this policy.

"I want to get this right," said Cohen. "It's hard to account for how many people are on this side or that side. Hopefully, people are listening."

Pangallo says another month of deliberations and discussion are likely ahead.

Donovan is pleading with city leadership to take a different approach.

"I'm 44 years old. I'm not going to go into a shelter and have a curfew at 7, I'm not going to have the door locked on me at 11," she said.

Passage of the ordinance requires it to be referred out of committee to the larger City Council, with the full board voting on it twice before it can be put into action.