Middletown, OH Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Encampment Sanitation (2026)

Section 1070.02(f) of the Middletown Code, headed "Camping," prohibits any person from being present in any park area between sunset and 6:00 a.m., unless posted signage indicates an exception, and separately bars parking or leaving parked any automobile or other vehicle in a park during those same overnight hours under section 1070.02(f)(1)-(2). Because the rule bans presence in the park itself, not just sleeping or pitching a tent, it operates as Middletown's principal tool against unauthorized overnight encampments on City parkland; there is no separate "homeless encampment" chapter in the code.

The prohibition works alongside other park conduct rules enforced by the Department of Public Works and Utilities or the Division of Police, defined in the chapter as "authorized persons" under section 1070.01(a). Authorized persons may request identification from anyone in the park to confirm identity or residence, and can order noncompliant persons to leave; failing to leave after being ordered to is itself a separate violation under section 1070.03(a)(4). The same chapter bans depositing waste or leaving items on park property without City permission under section 1070.02(b), open fires except in designated grills under section 1070.02(e), and requires any consumable items be removed or placed in a park waste receptacle under section 1070.02(c)(8), so a City response to an encampment can also draw on the litter and unauthorized-structure provisions when cleaning up a site.