ASTORIA, Ore. — The Astoria City Council will consider a new ordinance tonight that would temporarily ban people from downtown Astoria and is intended to address an uptick in what police consider “quality of life” crimes.
But critics argue the ordinance will not provide lasting solutions.
Astoria has explored the idea of exclusion zones in the past as a tool to curb chronic issues primarily related to the local unhoused population.
Under the proposed ordinance, exclusion zones would be areas someone isn’t allowed to enter for 90 days if they have committed certain crimes in that area.
The exclusion zone would cover most of downtown — stretching from the Columbia River to Franklin Avenue and then from 2nd Street to 19th Street. Areas designated for camping under the city’s current camping ordinance would also be considered exclusion zones.
Astoria Police Chief Stacy Kelly told KMUN that officers are issuing more citations for camping violations and for charges that range from disorderly conduct to harassment and theft — and that citations alone do not seem to deter people.
He said some downtown business owners have pushed for a more robust response.
Statements Kelly made last week regarding the upcoming proposal initially went out as an email from the Astoria Downtown Historic District Association, which represents and advocates for a number of downtown businesses. Kelly said this was to let business owners know police are aware of the issues they face and are working toward possible solutions.
With the proposed ordinance, Kelly said, “Instead of issuing the citation and walking away, not being able to do anything else, if it worked its way up to where they were excluded, then we could physically arrest them.”
Kelly said some charges would be considered “one strike” offenses, resulting in immediate exclusion from an area. These include sexual offenses, drug and weapons violations and assault. For other charges, like violating the city’s camping ordinance, a person would need to rack up three violations within 90 days before they would be excluded.
If somebody is excluded, there are exceptions that would allow them to re-enter the exclusion zone — to go to work or to access social services, for example. But they risk facing additional charges if they have been excluded and re-enter the area apart from one of these reasons.
Kelly says the proposed exclusion zone ordinance is about addressing behaviors, not targeting any one group. But some homeless advocates are critical of the proposal.
Osarch Orak, executive director of LiFEBoat Services in downtown Astoria, said the big issue for him remains: “So you want to tell everyone where they can’t be but you don’t have a solution for where they can be.”
Kelly has said the goal is to push people towards services, but Orak said that the threat of exclusion and steeper criminal charges will not deter someone who is struggling with mental health issues or addiction or convince them to seek out help.
“Most of them do not like where they’re at,” he said. “They’ve given up on the system and they’ve given them up on themselves.”
He understands the frustration from businesses and other community members and acknowledges it is a difficult problem. But, he contends, the city’s plan will only end up costing taxpayers money without results.
In the past, just the threat that the city might create an exclusion zone got people’s attention, Kelly said, adding, “So we’re banking on that just the fact that we passed that, we’re gonna see a lot more compliance and hopefully we don’t have to use this that often.”
The Astoria City Council meets in person at city hall at 6 p.m. on Monday. Remote options for connecting to the meeting can be found here.