BRENTWOOD — As cities across the Bay Area continue to find ways to lessen the impacts of homelessness, the Brentwood City Council unanimously approved amendments Tuesday to local ordinances to better manage encampments on city-owned properties.
Brentwood’s municipal code had already contained a brief prohibition on camping. The code stated that doing so on city-owned property was prohibited unless “youth organizations and their chaperones in conjunction with an exclusive use permit” requested the use.
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According to the city, the code left gaps in addressing important details, such as what constitutes camping and what happens to personal belongings.
The city said clearer rules were needed to address safety and health hazards posed by makeshift camps.
Lower court rulings had prevented governments from exercising anti-camping ordinances against individuals experiencing homelessness for sleeping on public property if beds weren’t available in shelters. However, a landmark ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2024 stated that such anti-camping ordinances do not violate the Eighth Amendment.
The proposed changes approved Tuesday night further expand the definition of camping, outline how personal property of unhoused individuals will be handled, and provide how much notice individuals will get before belongings are moved.
According to updated city codes, it is prohibited to make or use fire for the purpose of heating or cooking or to use any flame, grill, portable stove, or similar cooking device on public property, except in city parks with designated barbeque or cooking areas.
Also included in the changes, before any personal property can be removed, police officers are required to give unhoused individuals a 48-hour notice to vacate. After the notice is given, the city has the right to impound the belongings for at least 30 days. If they are not claimed, they will be discarded.
Any belongings that are deemed as threats to the health or safety of the public may be discarded immediately, while items that may constitute as evidence of a crime or contraband may be seized.
Wisinski said the amendments have three main goals: clarify the definition of camping and associated activities, provide the community with a better understanding of activities permitted on city property, and provide the unhoused with information on how their belongings will be treated in the event they are removed by the city.
“No single ordinance or law is going to be the answer to (overcoming homelessness), but we’re hopeful that this will get us one step closer to addressing these issues locally,” said Wisinski.
Lieutenant Christopher Peart, who has been a homeless liaison in Brentwood since 2014, said that when they contact an individual, they build a rapport with them to offer resources and services to help get off the streets. However, he said it can take several attempts before individuals accept the help.
He added that the Contra Costa County’s Coordinated Outreach Referral Engagement team also provides assistance.
“We can use our resources to help out and to move people from certain areas, but they need to want the help to get off the street, that’s the common denominator in my experience with this situation,” said Peart.
Councilmember Jovita Mendoza asked when the new amendments will come into effect. Peart said the Brentwood Police Department has been exercising a California Penal Code which prohibits unlawful lodging and camping.
“This (ordinance) outlines everything we have been doing and is memorialized in our municipal code, which allows us to evaluate situations on a case-by-case basis and figure out which avenue is the best,” said Peart.
Some residents during public comment at the meeting Tuesday said they felt changes to city code would positively impact businesses, while others felt they criminalized survival and targeted vulnerable individuals.
Brentwood, with a population of about 65,000 residents, has not seen the same scale of homelessness compared to its other counterparts in the Bay Area. In 2023, a point-in-time count showed that the city had 37 homeless individuals. That number dropped to 30 in 2024, the city said.
Meanwhile, neighboring cities saw an uptick in homelessness. In 2024, Antioch reported 413 unhoused individuals, Pittsburg had 110, and Oakley saw a rise from nine in 2023 to 35.
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