https://www.change.org/p/stop-camping-in-missoula-city-parks
No Camp Missoula
The day use only requirement for residential parks is a significant condition for what makes them work. A flow of strangers coming and going through parks at all hours of the night immediately creates a less safe situation for park neighbors and neighborhoods, and it creates a situation of ambiguity as to whether individuals in parks after normal day use hours are there camping, partying, vandalizing, burglarizing etc. Under day use only requirements, law enforcement officers know immediately if someone is present in a park after hours, there is cause for follow up. The idea of the City Council and
Mayor to open 10 residential parks to houseless sheltering that are distributed across the city is unimaginable to us as it instantly expands the footprint of potential new problem areas, could create new legacy problem areas, and would greatly increase the need for park maintenance and law enforcement resources!
The City of Missoula’s ordinance that allows overnight shelter in parks has the potential to lull citizens into accepting a lower quality of life for the entire community. This ordinance will hurt the economy of Missoula. The Economic Impact of Local Parks from the National Recreation and Park Association (2019). Released a report showing that Montana had 3916 employees working for Parks and Recreation with wages of $191 million. Value added to the state of $284 million, with a total economic activity of $634 statewide. Missoulians have a generational investment in the city parks with taxes and other significant private and corporate donations.
A significant potential impact to residential and commercial property owners includes a decrease in property values, which would result in personal economic loss on assets that many have required decades of investment to obtain. Many residents depend on their Real Property assets for retirement stability and late-in-life care and they have worked all their lives for them. An additional indirect effect to reduced property values associated with park degradation could ultimately lead to decreased property tax revenue for the city, which could lead the city to raise property taxes to fill in the loss of revenue. Typical snake eating its own tail analogy. The City appears to have taken none of these factors into consideration.
In sum, the Ordinance is bad, the development process was bad, the implementation process is bad, the impact on houseless people is bad, the impact on public safety is bad, the impact on Missoula residents is bad, the impact on local law enforcement is bad, the impact on need for additional community resources is bad, the impact on community economics is bad… it needs to go.
