Anti-camping ordinance & threat of sweeps face scrutiny in Norristown, + LASP outlines ongoing work on behalf of unhoused residents
June 2023 at LASP’s Norristown Office on Swede Street. Front row (from left): Community Justice Project (CJP) interns, both Penn State Dickinson Law students; and Carolyn Johnson, LASP Chief Counsel. Back row: Marielle Macher, CJP Executive Director; Jaysan Jayaprakash, LASP intern & Temple Law student; and Charles Burrows, LASP Staff Attorney.
At Riverfront Park, Norristown in June 2023 (from left): Jaysan Jayaprakash; Shawn Boehringer, LASP Executive Director; and Marielle Macher with CJP interns.
(July 31, 2023)
Note: A version of this article was published in LASP’s July 2023 e-news.
A version also will be published in the National Homelessness Law Center newsletter. The link will be posted here once available.
NORRISTOWN - On Aug. 16, 2022, the Borough of Norristown, PA adopted Ordinance 22-02 modifying park hours to sunrise-to-sunset, aligning with Montgomery County Ordinance 16-2 banning overnight camping except in designated areas. By May 2023, Norristown and PECO Energy Co. officials began discussing plans to sweep the estimated 160 persons sleeping outdoors in Norristown. Ordinance 22-02 prohibits being “on any Municipal park/parkland or Municipal recreation area or recreation facility except between sunrise and sunset,” except in limited circumstances. Any individual who stays in parks or recreational areas outside of those hours “shall be guilty of a summary offense and upon conviction thereof shall be liable for a fine” of up to $300 “or, in default thereof, to imprisonment for not more than five days.”
In the wake of the adoption of Ordinance 22-02, the Norristown Police Dept. has conducted sweeps of homeless encampments in an effort to prevent unhoused residents from living in Norristown. Legal advocates from Community Justice Project, Legal Aid of Southeastern PA, and the National Homelessness Law Center sent a letter on May 25, 2023 to the borough and to PECO Energy Co. condemning the homeless sweeps and harassment of homeless residents and reinforcing the legal obligation of the municipality with respect to the sweeps.
Compounding the problem was the permanent closure of the 50-bed Coordinated Homeless Outreach Center, the only year-round shelter in Montgomery County, on June 30, 2022. A solution proposed by the Norristown Council President was to bus people living homeless in the borough to the Villanova University campus.
At the Norristown Municipal Council meeting on June 5, 2023, area residents, nonprofits, and business owners addressed the homeless situation in Norristown during the public comment period.
On June 6, 2023 the borough issued a press release (not currently available on the borough's website) denying that it planned a city-wide sweep.
Legal advocates continue to defend the rights of the unhoused and shift the focus to addressing the affordable housing crisis.
In September 2021, Hurricane Ida destroyed multiple affordable housing options in Norristown, including a 90-unit low-income housing complex, exacerbating the affordable housing crisis in the Philadelphia suburbs.
Some of the staff working on this effort
Legal Aid of Southeastern PA staff involved in the effort include Carolyn Johnson, Chief Counsel; Charles Burrows, Staff Attorney; Kelly Young, Staff Attorney; Erica Briant; Director of Community Engagement & Training; and C. Shawn Boehringer, Executive Director.
Community Justice Project staff include Marielle Macher, Executive Director; Daniel Vitek, Staff Attorney; and Jackie Perlow, Staff Attorney.
National Homelessness Law Center staff include Eric Tars, Legal Director, and Will Knight, Decriminalization Director.
LASP outlines ongoing work on behalf of unhoused residents
Legal Aid of Southeastern PA is committed to providing free civil legal service to people experiencing poverty, including homelessness, and ensuring their constitutional rights are protected. In 2022, LASP began working with multiple community partners to increase access to justice for people experiencing homelessness.
Pottstown
LASP’s Pottstown Managing Attorney Lisa Whalen has held a monthly outreach at Christ Episcopal Church in the Borough since January 2022. On June 21, 2023, The Salvation Army of Greater Pottstown hosted LASP and the Montgomery County Street Outreach / Access Services, Inc. LASP provided free legal services for individuals with low incomes and those who are experiencing homelessness. Montgomery County Street Medicine provided free medical care.
Norristown
In Norristown, LASP's effort began in October 2022 at Riverfront Park, working in collaboration with Professor Stephanie Sena, Anti-Poverty Fellow at Villanova University’s Charles Widger School of Law. In December 2022, LASP and the PA Utility Law Project (PULP) held an outreach at the Norristown Hospitality Center.
Upper Darby
Expanding the effort to Delaware County, LASP Chester City Managing Attorney Michelle R. Terry held an outreach at Breaking Bread Shelter in Upper Darby in February 2023, and an additional outreach was held there in summer 2023.
Still ahead: Bucks & Chester counties
LASP looks to work with new and existing partners and to build or expand community partnerships to continue this work into Bucks and Chester counties.
At The Salvation Army of Greater Pottstown on June 21, 2023 (from left): Jennifer Pierce, Pro Bono Director; Erica Briant, Director of Community Engagement & Training; Carolyn Johnson, Chief Counsel; Wendy Egolf, Director of Housing Programs for The Salvation Army of Greater Pottstown; Charles Burrows (seated), Staff Attorney; Kathryn M. Palladino, Staff Attorney; Carin Holmes, LASP intern & Penn State Dickinson Law student; and Erika Felpel, Pro Bono & Helpline Paralegal.