Commerce City, CO Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Encampment Sanitation (2026)

Revised Municipal Code § 12-3012 makes it unlawful to camp on private property without the property owner or agent's express written consent, and unlawful to camp on public property at all, except in a location the city has expressly authorized. The section defines 'camp' or 'camping' broadly: unauthorized overnight occupancy or residing or dwelling on public property overnight, including sleeping, eating, or storing personal possessions, using any form of shelter such as a tent, tarpaulin, lean-to, sleeping bag, bedroll, or blanket, or using a vehicle for overnight occupancy where that overnight use otherwise violates city code.

Evidence of an unauthorized camp includes laying out bedding or a sleeping pad, erecting a tent or makeshift shelter, or setting up a camp stove or heating source, though the section excludes daytime napping and picnicking. Fires are allowed only at sites the Parks, Recreation and Golf Department designates, and cooking devices are limited to grills the department permits in designated areas. 'Public property' sweeps in streets, medians, alleys, sidewalks, parks, trails, greenways, parking lots, watercourses, and stormwater infrastructure such as ponds, bridges, and culverts.

Before any city employee can cite, arrest, or otherwise enforce § 12-3012 against someone camping on public property, a city employee or law enforcement official must first have issued that person a verbal or written order, including a publicly posted notice, telling them to move from the camp and take their property with them. Anyone convicted under this section is not subject to the general administrative penalty provisions found at § 3-2100 et seq., so enforcement runs through the Municipal Court's ordinary process instead.