City begins revising rules that affect the homeless

Las Vegas is starting to revise rules that sparked a lengthy legal battle over feeding homeless people in city parks and the treatment of the homeless in general.

In doing so, the city would be implementing a settlement reached with parties that sued Las Vegas over the issues, including homeless advocate Gail Sacco and the ACLU of Nevada.

The new rules would allow gatherings of up to 75 people without requiring a permit. The existing limit is 25 people.

They also specify that city marshals cannot force a person to leave a park "under the authority of any statute or ordinance relating to trespassing." People could not be banned unless there is evidence of unlawful activity, and in those cases a valid arrest must be made or a citation issued.

The new language also would remove a ban on feeding people in city parks. That ban already has been struck down in a federal lawsuit.

A City Council subcommittee approved the measure Tuesday. It heads next to the full council, which probably will vote on it this month.

"I hope they vote for it, and I hope this court matter is over and done with so we can put it in the past," said Sacco, who dedicates a lot of her time to distributing food to homeless people and poor households. "With the economy the way it is, we have a lot more poor people than we did."

While the feeding ban grabbed a lot of attention, the beefed-up standards for law enforcement are "really a core piece of both the original case and the settlement," said ACLU attorney Lee Rowland.

"There was far too much discretion," she said. "There were vague standards. It allowed people to be kicked out of the park when a crime had not been committed.

"We're very hopeful that this really marks the end of this unfortunate chapter in Las Vegas history."

In 2006, Las Vegas passed an ordinance making it illegal to feed an indigent person in a park for free or for a nominal fee. An indigent person was defined as a "person whom a reasonable ordinary person would believe to be entitled to apply for or receive assistance."

At the time, Mayor Oscar Goodman said offering homeless people food in places where other social services were not available kept the homeless from seeking services that could help them leave the streets behind.

Contact reporter Alan Choate at achoate@reviewjournal.com or 702-229-6435.