New park rules target problems caused by the homeless

Mark Barnebey, Palmetto city attorney, couldn’t bring himself to discuss what has been going on in the city’s parks, saying only, “I’m not going to get into it because some are pretty disgusting.”

Language like “disgusting” and “disturbing” have been used as the city enacts a series of new rules and regulations governing use of the city’s parks. A new ordinance, approved Monday night, focuses on public safety issues, but also is meant to curtail some more unfortunate activities.

One new rule spells it out: “Persons are prohibited from defecating or urinating in a city park, except in facilities specifically designed for that purpose.”

The city says the new ordinance isn’t designed to focus solely on the homeless but for Melissa Silva, a mother of three who visits Sutton Park almost daily, it’s a high priority.

“It used to be just one gentleman with his dog and he was always nice and respectful,” Silva said. “It’s gotten a lot worse in the past year and now it’s eight or nine every single day and they just sit there and watch everything you are doing. It’s creepy and we usually have to leave before we want to. They bathe in the restrooms and there have been a couple of times we’ve found needles in there. It’s getting worse every day.”

The lengthy list of new rules include an entire section that deals with the homeless.

The ordinance outlines a series of steps for law enforcement to address the homeless, but the goal also is to be compassionate, according to Police Chief Scott Tyler. The ordinance lists how an officer should identify that the individual is homeless and then attempt to provide assistance via a ride to a shelter before issuing a trespass warning.

Bradenton has a similar ordinance on its books when it comes to the homeless, but it does not address point-by-point items being prohibited by Palmetto.

Manatee County does offer point-by-point prohibitions but does not address the homeless specifically other than banning overnight camping in parks.

The new rules for Palmetto address multiple issues and also now apply to the city’s two cemeteries.

Neighbors around the historic Yellow Fever Cemetery have complained of dog owners using the cemetery as a dog park and the evidence has been clearly left behind. Similar situations are occurring in the parks, which led officials to include in the ordinance a requirement that a dog must be leashed or tethered at all times with owners being responsible for removing waste.

Tyler said most of the rules are common sense, but the city has been without an ordinance making it more difficult to target violators.

Most of the city’s parks are out of the way, hidden within residential areas. Residents surrounding the city’s 17th Street West Park reported no unusual or unwanted activities. Sutton Park and Riverside Park West seem to garner the most complaints.

“The city has had very few limitations on parks,” Barnebey said. “As we’ve had more use, new challenges have occurred, so I believe it’s appropriate to provide a number of items related to those parks in how to deal with, not necessarily good activities.”

Other rules include prohibiting people from dropping off exotic animals in the parks, using utility systems and playing golf, archery and other potentially harmful activities. Tyler said of the rules he helped draft, “I can easily see these kind of activities being dangerous with other people in the park.”

Drones and radio controlled vehicles were in the initial ban list, but commissioners backed away from barring those activities in their final approval.

“I can’t believe they did that,” Silva said. “There are grown men out here racing those cars all over the park. One time there was a group of kids, all under the age of 4, playing and one of them accidentally kicked the car and that man actually got mad at the kid. First of all, you are a grown man. If you have to do that, there are plenty of other places where you can go other than around a bunch of kids playing.”

Two sticking points in the debate have been establishing park hours and setting up exceptions to the rules via city permission. The commission opted to leave the exceptions out of the ordinance, for now, until a process can be established. Park hours will remain the same as they have been, also for now.

Currently, most of the parks are open from 30 minutes before sunset to 30 minutes after sunset. The exceptions are Sutton Park, which closes at 10 p.m., and Riverside Park, which is open 24 hours. The city’s walking trails also are open 24 hours, which includes MLK Park. The city established that park as part of the trails system.

This story was originally published February 27, 2018 at 2:06 PM with the headline "New park rules target problems caused by the homeless."