Colorado Springs, CO Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Encampment Sanitation (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- City Code § 9.6.110
- Scope
- All public property citywide, plus stream/riparian zones
- Riparian buffer
- 100 feet from any streambank
- Vehicle camping
- Requires prior warning + 24-hour wait before citation
- Maximum penalty
- Up to $2,500 fine, 189 days jail (§ 1.1.201)
- Adopted
- Ord. 10-10; amended Ord. 26-08
Summary
City Code § 9.6.110 bans camping, defined broadly as using a public area for human habitation, including presence of waste, urination or defecation as evidence, anywhere on public property, with an outright ban on camping and waste disposal inside any stream or 100-foot riparian zone.
A. Legislative Declaration: The City Council finds and declares that urban camping causes conditions that adversely affect the control of communicable diseases, the physical and mental health of the community, the provision of public infrastructure services, and the safety and general welfare of the people... B. Definitions: CAMP or CAMPING: Using a public area for human habitation. ...evidence of human habitation may include...f. Evidence of urination or defecation;...h. The presence of personal property; or i. The presence of waste in the immediate area. C. Violations: 1. Stream Camping: b. It is unlawful for any person to knowingly or recklessly deposit any waste, place any waste, or permit any waste to be deposited or placed within any stream or stream riparian zone unless: (1) The area is designated by the State...for the disposal of the waste...; or (2) The waste is placed in a receptacle or container used within the area for the purpose. 2. Public Property Camping: It is unlawful for any person to camp on any public property.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2026 S-21: Code current through: Ord. 26-23, passed June 9, 2026).
Full Breakdown
110 declares in its legislative findings that 'urban camping causes conditions that adversely affect the control of communicable diseases, the physical and mental health of the community, the provision of public infrastructure services, and the safety and general welfare of the people,' enacted under the City's Article XX home-rule police powers. ' Subsection C separately bans camping within any stream or stream riparian zone, defined as the public land extending 100 feet from a streambank, and makes it unlawful to knowingly or recklessly deposit, place or permit any waste to be deposited within that zone, unless the area is a State- or City-designated disposal site or the waste goes into a receptacle provided there.
3 prohibits camping inside a motor vehicle on public property, though vehicle-camping citations require a prior warning and at least 24 hours' notice before a citation can issue. Subsection E provides an affirmative defense where the person had authorization from the appropriate governmental authority to camp at that location on that date.
Violations & Fines
General public-property and stream-zone camping violations, along with unlawful waste deposits in a stream riparian zone, are punished under the City's general penalty, § 1.1.201: up to a $2,500 fine, up to 189 days in jail, probation, or a combination. Vehicle-camping citations carry an extra procedural requirement, no citation may issue unless the person was previously warned that vehicle camping is prohibited and at least 24 hours have passed since that warning; a prior citation is treated as proof of the earlier warning.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is camping illegal on all public property in Colorado Springs?
What counts as 'camping' under the ordinance?
Can I be cited immediately for sleeping in my car on a public street?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Colorado Springs
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