The Lander City Council passed an ordinance on third and final reading this week making it easier to adjust the rules at local parks.
“I’m pretty excited about the degree of flexibility this allows,” Councilmember Julia Stuble said during a regular meeting Tuesday.
The new ordinance lets the city council establish “specific” rules for each local park, city attorney Adam Phillips explained.
The change should make it easier to “limit where people (are) camping,” he added, and it gives “direction for our police department to kick people out” of areas where camping isn’t allowed.
Some of those people “might be living in the park,” Councilmember Melinda Cox noted, asking whether the city has a “procedure” in place to help find housing for those in need.
Lander Police Department chief Scott Peters said officers can work with agencies like the Department of Family Services to “tap into” local housing resources.
Local churches also donate to a “community fund” that the LPD can use to help stranded motorists buy gas, fix their vehicles, or cover other expenses to help them “get moving along to where they’re trying to go,” he said.
For more information call the City of Lander at 332-2870.