Ottawa County, MI Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Encampment Sanitation (2026)

1, reaches only property the Ottawa County Parks and Recreation Commission owns and operates as parks and open space, not county land generally and not private property. 6(a)(x) states that no person on Commission Park Property shall engage in the activity of Camping, unless prior written permission is obtained from the Commission or its Agent. 3(f) as the establishment of a lodging or sleeping site for a Person on the ground or in any other manner, or in any sleeping bag, tent, hammock, trailer, vehicle camper, motor vehicle, boat, or in any other conveyance erected, parked, or placed on Commission Park Property for overnight or day use, so the ban covers vehicle-dwelling and daytime encampments as well as overnight tents.

3(g) means a park permit or a signed note, email, or letter from the Commission chairperson or an agent, granted only for special circumstances. Ottawa County has no separate ordinance addressing homeless encampments outside its park system; enforcement of unauthorized camping elsewhere in the county falls to the city or township with jurisdiction over that land. 18(a)(i).