Illegal tent camping is about to become extremely difficult in Medford.

Medford City Council on Thursday will consider an ordinance that would give police the authority to immediately remove tents from parks, open spaces and the Bear Creek Greenway.

The authorization would help police deal with a new trend among homeless campers who sometimes set up a tent in the same location after it was just cleared away.

Many cities throughout the state have struggled to deal with an Oregon law that requires law enforcement to give illegal tent campers 72 hours notice to move their belongings on public property.

City Attorney Eric Mitton said a recent interpretation of that law is that the 72-hour notice applies to an “established camping site.’

However, if it is a new camping site created within five days, it wouldn’t be considered “established” and wouldn’t require the 72-hour notice, he said.

“This allows us to take immediate action in those five days,” Mitton said.

A homeless person would have to immediately remove a tent and other belongings or the officer could remove them and store the items for retrieval if the person wasn’t at the campsite.

Mayor Randy Sparacino, former Medford police chief, said the new ordinance would remove the ambiguity around existing laws, though the ordinance could be challenged in the courts.

Sparacino said Medford residents should notice the effects of the new ordinance over the coming months.

“It will be relatively quickly,” he said.

Officers would move from area to area to remove campsites rather than getting rid of them in one fell swoop. Sparacino said the city can’t remove all the campsites overnight because their removal requires significant resources by the city to also pick up garbage and other debris, particularly along the banks of Bear Creek where litter spills into the water.

“The ecological damage done by the pollution is significant,” Sparacino said.

Another worry from the campsites is the upcoming fire season, particularly after the 2020 Almeda Fire, which destroyed 2,500 residences, and more recent fires that destroyed part of the children’s playground at Bear Creek Park, and the Pacific Pride Fire, which burned several buildings south of downtown in April 2022.

Medford police hope the enforcement of the tent camping ordinance would encourage more homeless people to seek help, including drug and alcohol treatment.

The city’s Livability Team patrols both the greenway and the downtown, and has removed 1,461 camps from May 2021 to March 2023.

During the same period, the Livability Team has referred 1,908 people to the city’s urban campground — called Rogue Crossings — a low-barrier tent shelter operated off Biddle Road in a fenced area.

The council recently approved expanding the Livability Team, but Sparacino said he doesn’t expect the additional officers will be ready until later this summer.

While officers attempt to connect homeless individuals to services, some refuse and end up setting up new campsites.

The new ordinance applies to tent campsites, but it’s still possible for someone to throw a bedroll on the grass in Hawthorne Park and sleep overnight, based on a court ruling.

Sparacino said Medford and other cities have sought legislative help to deal with issues surrounding homelessness, which has impacted Medford businesses and local residents.

“We understand the citizens’ frustration as to what is happening in our parks,” he said.

Many cities want the Legislature to change the 72-hour notice for tent campsites back to 24 hours. The state law was changed in 2021.

Sparacino said Measure 110, passed by voters in 2020, was designed to provide addiction services rather than criminal punishments for drug abuse.

He said officers have noticed an increase in addiction and mental health issues since the law was passed, and many of those with drug problems refuse offers of help.

“We’re not seeing people going into recovery from Measure 110,” he said.

The homeless issue has scared off many residents from Hawthorne Park and the greenway, but it has also proven difficult for officers, Sparacino said.

“It is frustrating when they are doing the same thing over and over,” he said. “They’re trying to make things safer.”