photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

The city-run support site for people experiencing homelessness, "Camp New Beginnings," is pictured on Sept. 21, 2023, at 100 Maple St. in North Lawrence. Encampments in the foreground on the right outside the fence are not within the city-sanctioned site.

Updated at 3:09 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 12

A group of Lawrence businesses is asking a Douglas County court to close a pair of homeless camps, contending the city is creating a “vagrancy crisis” and allowing city laws to be “violated with impunity.”

“The community cannot stand idly by while lawless zones that promote crime erode the well-being of the community,” the plaintiffs state in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit is asking a judge to declare the city-sanctioned New Beginnings camp behind Johnny’s Tavern in North Lawrence and an unsanctioned camp behind the Amtrak Depot in East Lawrence public nuisances. The lawsuit is not asking for any monetary damages from the city, but is seeking an injunction that would prohibit the city from “expanding, maintaining, operating and/or allowing the public nuisances.”

“I have tried working with the city of Lawrence, but the city has failed our employees, customers and the homeless population in the management of the New Beginnings camp, and the city’s land surrounding the camp, as well as all along the river,” Rick Renfro, a founder and owner of Johnny’s Tavern, said in a statement.

Renfro and Johnny’s North Lawrence Inc. are among the lead plaintiffs in the lawsuit. In total, there are 24 plaintiffs in the suit, including a host of limited liability companies that own land or business interests near the Johnny’s site, and also several businesses near the East Lawrence camp. The East Lawrence plaintiffs include Dale & Ron’s Auto Service and ES Lighting, both longtime businesses in the neighborhood. Lawrence attorneys Todd Thompson and Adam Hall are representing the plaintiffs.

In the lawsuit, Johnny’s Tavern, which is adjacent to the city’s New Beginnings homeless camp along the Kansas River levee, contends that it has spent $40,000 on fences, lighting, cameras, security personnel and other such items. The lawsuit states that the bar and restaurant has equipped its managers with pepper spray in an attempt to make the staff feel more secure in the environment.

“I was ready to be part of the solution, and I’ve tried to work with the different agencies to help implement the plan,” Renfro said of the city’s October 2022 announcement that it was creating the camp behind his business. “They have told us time and again that they have it handled and we don’t need to worry about it.

“I am worried about it, constantly. Our staff comes to work every day with a mental and physical stress that is exhausting.”

The lawsuit alleges that the city has not followed through on its promises to provide adequate security and staffing at the North Lawrence camp. It also contends the city has set up part of the camp on property not owned by the city, including its bathroom trailers and other temporary structures. The lawsuit claims that the city is knowingly trespassing on private property by allowing that portion of the camp to continue operating.

“The city enforces its codes against tax-paying homeowners and businesses, but not against vagrants, and not against itself,” the plaintiffs write in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit frequently cites a “vagrant crisis” in Lawrence. It contends the city has created an environment that attracts people who are far different from ordinary Douglas County residents who have become homeless.

“A portion of the vagrant population permitted in and near the New Beginning(s) encampment and the other levee camps comprises individuals with criminal histories and with outstanding warrants,” the lawsuit reads.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Debris and other possessions are scattered throughout a homeless camp on the banks of the Kansas River in East Lawrence on Dec. 8, 2022.

It contends that situation is even worse at the site commonly known as “Camp Track,” which is an unsanctioned homeless camp behind the Amtrak Depot along the Burlington Northern Santa Fe tracks. The camp is on city-owned property and contains multiple health code violations, but the city has refused to clear the camp from the property.

The lawsuit alleges the city “refuses to enforce” a large list of “quality-of-life ordinances prohibiting illegal camping, loitering, disturbing the peace, drunk and disorderly conduct, drug use, panhandling, domestic violence, and ordinances related to obstructing streets, sidewalks or other public and private property.”

City Attorney Toni Wheeler declined to comment on the lawsuit, citing the city’s policy of not commenting on pending litigation.

The city is in the process of opening a new site for the homeless, which has been called a Pallet village. The site at 256 N. Michigan St. contains 50 “Pallet” structures, which are 64-square-foot buildings.

However, the site hasn’t yet begun operations, and the city has not been clear on whether and when it would close the New Beginnings camp in North Lawrence and begin shutting down unsanctioned camps around the city.

A spokeswoman with the city said she didn’t immediately have information about the city’s plans on Tuesday morning, but said she was seeking an update on an opening date for the project and how it may impact the other campsites in the city.

Other details from the lawsuit or from Renfro’s statement included:

• Renfro estimated that the campsite near Johnny’s has five emergency police or fire calls per day.

• As of Dec. 6, there were 15 tents inside the city-sanctioned New Beginnings camp, while there were 37 tents immediately adjacent to the camp in an unsanctioned camp, according to the lawsuit. The plaintiffs contend that at least seven residents in the unsanctioned camp that is just outside the fence of New Beginnings have been banned from the New Beginnings camp. Despite the ban, the lawsuit alleges, the city still allows those individuals on the city-owned property outside the fence, and continues to provide the banned individuals with food and water.

• The lawsuit alleges that residents of the camp have used the patio at Johnny’s to “defecate, use drugs, fornicate, masturbate, charge their phones, eat, and sleep.”

• The lawsuit contends that Lawrence Police Chief Rich Lockhart wrote a memo in November 2022 that directed officers to check with homeless shelters about the availability of beds when officers encounter an individual camping in the city’s commercial districts. If the shelter beds are available, and the person refuses to go to the shelter, the camper can be issued a ticket under the city’s code.

However, the lawsuit contends the memo also creates an exception to the ticket guidelines. The memo stated that “if a person has been refused entry to a shelter, due to their own conduct, officers should consider that shelter unavailable to the person.” In that instance officers aren’t authorized to give a ticket for illegal camping.

“The city’s policy allows someone to avoid prosecution because their poor behavior has them banned from the shelter — even though there was a bed available for them but for their bad behavior,” the plaintiffs write in the lawsuit. “The memo is a shocking admission that the city has failed to enforce its laws, and that it grants immunity to vagrants based on the vagrant being banned due to their own bad behavior.”

• The lawsuit makes multiple arguments that Lawrence city officials are improperly reacting to a U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that found that the city of Boise, Idaho, must allow individuals to camp on some public lands if homeless shelter beds in the community aren’t available.

The lawsuit quotes a legal filing from the City of Portland, Oregon, that is arguing against the Boise ruling by drawing distinctions between the homeless and “vagrants.” The lawsuit says officials in Portland — which has numerous homeless camps — have found “many unsheltered people will not go to a shelter, regardless of availability.” The Portland legal filing stated that between May 2022 and July 2023, Portland officials made 3,399 offers of shelter beds to homeless individuals, but were declined 2,560 times.

The question of whether Lawrence is currently bound by the Boise ruling is an open one. In June, then Lawrence Mayor Lisa Larsen told the Journal-World she planned to ask the city’s legal staff for an opinion on whether the Boise ruling was still applicable, especially given that Lawrence has had available shelter beds in recent months. It is unclear whether that opinion has ever been crafted by legal staff. In July, the city’s attorney declined to answer questions from the Journal-World about the opinion, including whether it had been completed, due to “attorney-client privilege” concerns.