By Staff Reporter |
A local church filed suit against the city of Phoenix for its new ordinance requiring permits to feed and provide medical care to the homeless in public parks.
The city ordinance, “Phoenix Medical Treatment and Food Distribution in Parks,” impacts any individual or organization with a charitable or humanitarian purpose from distributing food or medical care to the general public, not just the homeless — though it is those seeking to provide resources to the homeless that are most impacted by the policy.
The city emphasized the prohibition on the sale, distribution, or exchange of syringes or needles, needle exchange programs, and distribution of needle/intramuscular naloxone in public communications discussing the new ordinance.
The ordinance exempts those distributing food or medical care for non-charitable purposes, such as food distributed at events not open to the general public, like birthday parties, or medical aid rendered to address a sudden medical event. Water and electrolyte beverage distribution was also exempted from the permitting process.
The council passed the ordinance last month, and it took effect last wek week. Starting Friday, the city provides a limited number of permits: two per month, per park made available on a tri-annual basis. The two permits combine both food and medical, not two food and two medical permits.
Those seeking permits must submit the names, food handler certificates, and medical certifications for all providing food and/or medical care, along with proof of a $2 million liability insurance policy.
Lance Brace, a Phoenix real estate agent, and his nonprofit St. Herman’s Table filed the lawsuit challenging the ordinance through Provident Law in the Arizona District Court this week.
St. Herman’s Table provides a meal, water, Bibles, and small hygiene products to the homeless at Cave Creek Park at Cactus once a week. The nonprofit is part of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross Orthodox Church.
Brace argued that the ordinance violates the First Amendment and the Arizona Free Exercise of Religion Act, claiming that it extends favorable treatment to secular activities, like wedding and birthday parties, by not holding them to the same permitting requirements as religious organizations engaging in charitable endeavors.
Advocates for the city ordinance say the homeless have made the public parks unsafe for children and families.
In its presentation of the ordinance during a formal council meeting last month, the city included photos taken by city staff and submitted by residents as examples of the pervasive problems occurring in park systems due to unfettered services rendered to the homeless: mass crowding, littering, drug usage, drug paraphernalia, and contamination with biological hazards.
As an example of the safety hazards presented by charitable organization presence without government oversight, officials referenced several recent city cleanup efforts that yielded the collection of hundreds of needles at South Mountain Park and Preserve, John F. & Mary P. Long Homestead Park, and Margaret T. Hance Park.
Critics of the city ordinance argued that the charitable services shouldn’t be limited by a permitting process due to the outsized needs of the homeless community.
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