PEORIA, Ill. – The city of Peoria is again delaying implementation of the public property camping ban.
The city council passed the ban by one vote in November, and has planned to implement it 30 days after its passage. City leaders decided to delay implementation until the start of the new year, due to the holidays.
Community Development Director Joe Dulin tells WMBD’s “The Phil Luciano Show” that the timeline has been pushed back again, due to the cold weather and snow.
“We don’t want anyone to not go to a shelter because they’re afraid we’re going to clean things up,” Dulin said.
Dulin says the staff is working on the logistics of holding onto the belongings of the people in the homeless encampments. He says that includes documenting what they have, and having them sign off on storing the belongings in totes.
Dulin says there’s an urgency to try to get people in the encampments inside, due to the cold weather forecast for the rest of the week.
“I think it’s just not safe for people to be outside,” Dulin said. “So whether that’s going somewhere else, or going to one of the shelters, that’s what we’ve encouraged all along.”
Dulin says some of the residents have been able to find temporary shelter in hotels, due to support from local non-profits. He says there is space available in the city for anyone who is in need of shelter.
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