In an effort to deal with increasing numbers of the homeless on Denver’s streets, the City Council is expected to consider an ordinance that would “ban unauthorized camping” throughout the city.

The bill, which has been in the works for months and is expected to be discussed in a council committee next week, would effectively make illegal any temporary, unauthorized habitation on public and private property throughout Denver.

That means people would be breaking the law by putting up tents or shelters or bedding down in sleeping bags anywhere that camping is unauthorized — meaning on the 16th Street Mall, on sidewalks, in alleys or by the South Platte River.

Word of the proposed ordinance — which already has the support of Denver’s mayor and many in the business community — has sparked the ire of advocates for the homeless, who call it a move to criminalize homelessness.

The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless estimates about 300 to 600 people are “camping” like this every night in Denver.

The city long ago outlawed camping in public parks but has no law against unauthorized camping. There is a law that forbids people from “sitting or lying down” in the downtown business district between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. But after 9 p.m., the 16th Street Mall has tended to become a gathering place for the homeless.

Last summer, the mall swelled with about 200 homeless people every night — annoying merchants and tourists. Around the same time, the Occupy Denver protest movement began, launching an ongoing battle with police as protesters began camping in Civic Center and sleeping on sidewalks around the park.

If the measure passes the council next month, Denver police officers first would have to warn offenders. They also would assess whether medical or social services were needed and then help the person get assistance.

“We are a city that takes care of those who live, work and play here,” Mayor Michael Hancock said in a statement. “It’s inhumane to have people sleeping out in the elements, and the proposed ordinance provides us with additional tools to help those most vulnerable among us. My administration is dedicated to ensuring any ordinance of this nature will be implemented in a balanced manner and is paired with the comprehensive services necessary for short and long-term support.”

Advocates for the homeless say the ordinance effectively “criminalizes homelessness” and that they will begin a campaign to have it defeated. The American Civil Liberties Union also is investigating the legalities.

“We hope to educate the council and the general public that this proposal is really counterproductive,” said John Parvensky, president of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless. “We can all agree no one should have to sleep on the streets because they don’t have access to adequate shelter and services. But the reality is, with this economy, the number of people who are homeless are increasing. Criminalizing the activity will not make it go away.”

The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty surveyed 234 cities, finding municipalities are cracking down on the homeless: 24 percent prohibit begging, 22 percent prohibit loitering, and 16 percent have enacted laws making it illegal to sleep in public places.

Boulder and Colorado Springs have banned camping on public property. Boulder District Court last year upheld that city’s law.

In the past six months, a number of federal district courts around the country have upheld local no-camping ordinances and similar laws in litigation arising out of the Occupy Wall Street movement, according to an executive summary written by Denver city attorneys for the proposed ordinance.

The law would be justified “on the basis of protecting the health, safety and general welfare of the public,” according to the brief.

Councilman Albus Brooks, the proposed ordinance’s main sponsor, said in a statement that its intent would be to help people — not put them in jail.

“Our No. 1 goal is prioritizing connecting people in need with effective, long-term and, hopefully, life-changing assistance,” Brooks said. “The short-term option of camping on city streets is a roadblock to that goal, moving us further from successfully assisting in rebuilding lives. We are working in conjunction with the mayor’s office and partners in the community to ensure we have a comprehensive solution to this very complex situation.”

Tami Door, president and chief executive of the Downtown Denver Partnership, said she shares Brooks’ and the mayor’s vision for “a balanced approach to solving this issue.”

Door said the business community is committed to finding “long-term solutions for those in need” and that Denver businesses “have raised and contributed millions of dollars to support Denver’s Road Home and fund social-service contracts.”

But Parvensky of the homeless coalition said the mayor is going ahead with the idea without convening a meeting of his homeless commission — with newly appointed members — and that funding for services and homeless shelters has been slashed.

Shelters already are full, and by the summer, many of those shelters close or reduce their number of beds.

Bennie Milliner, director of Denver’s Road Home — an agency created under then-Mayor John Hickenlooper in 2005 to end homelessness within a decade — said the ordinance has the “potential to increase the need for more shelters.”

Milliner said every effort will be made to help find a place for people to stay, whether that means asking churches for help, expanding the time period for winter shelters, turning an unused facility at the downtown police station into a temporary shelter, or increasing the number of waivers for hotel stays.

“A value for this city and this mayor is that it is not humane to have folks simply living on the street,” he said.

Current laws

Denver forbids camping in parks and prohibits any unauthorized “encumbrances on streets and sidewalks.” In 2005, Denver adopted an ordinance barring sitting and lying in public areas of the Downtown Denver Business Improvement District between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m.

Proposed ordinance

The ordinance expected to be introduced this week would ban any person from camping on private or public property without consent. A draft of the ordinance says the police could cite or arrest the person only after the officer first gives a warning, then assesses whether that person is in need and makes “reasonable efforts to obtain assistance.” Camping is defined as residing or dwelling temporarily in a place with shelter, which is any type of cover or protection from the elements. Public property is defined as any street, alley, sidewalk, pedestrian or transit mall, bike path, greenway or structure.