City of North Kansas City makes public sleeping and camping ban permanent

KSHB 41 reporter Marlon Martinez covers Platte and Clay counties in Missouri. Share your story idea with Marlon.

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The North Kansas City Council passed an ordinance permanently banning camping and sleeping on public property while also directing the mayor and city staff to develop agreements with regional partners to expand outreach, shelter-bed reservations and a homeless-court referral option for people issued citations.

Bill 7996, the ordinance prohibiting camping and sleeping on public property, passed this month on second and final reading with 5 yes votes and 2 no votes.

Curtis, who has been homeless since 2013, said finding a safe place to sleep has always been his biggest challenge.

Steve Silvestri

"The only difference between homeless people and other people around here with homes or apartments is we don't have an address. They do. We're still humans," Curtis said.

I found Curtis at Macken Park in North KC, a place he said he often spends his days.

Steve Silvestri

"I got a good spot. I got two good spots, really," Curtis said.

He said the new permanent ban makes an already difficult situation even harder.

"You can't sleep on park benches. They'll arrest you. Can't sleep anywhere and park. They'll arrest you," Curtis said.

Curtis said enforcement alone is not the answer and called for a path forward for people experiencing homelessness.

"They always tell us where we can't be. How about tell us where we can be? Have a little spot where we can go. We don't. We just want a place to live too," Curtis said.

"Give our own little community where everybody can be separated. We just want a place to live," said Curtis.

Lindsey Cattanach, an outreach specialist with Synergy Services, shares those concerns.

Steve Silvestri

She said when people are forced to move, they become harder to find and harder to connect with services that could help them get off the streets.

"I get angry a lot. I think that I just feel like we're failing them. We're not providing them with what they need," Cattanach said. "It makes me really sad to think that they're just going to be put in jail or they're going to be criminalized for simply trying to survive."

Steve Silvestri

During a lengthy discussion of the item at last week's city council meeting, the mayor described two proposed memoranda of understanding the council directed staff to pursue.

The first would establish a homeless-court style referral pathway, routing certain citations into a court process coupled with services and community service requirements. The second MOU would focus on resource sharing for outreach, transport and shelter reservations.

Staff will continue negotiating with the Division of Unhoused Solutions and report back to the council. A review is scheduled for the first meeting in January 2027 to assess progress and any need for modification.
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