Port Orange, FL Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Encampment Sanitation (2026)

Section 50-7 of the Port Orange Code, adopted by Ordinance No. 2016-2 on March 15, 2016, defines camping on public property broadly: sleeping or otherwise being in a temporary shelter out-of-doors, sleeping out-of-doors, or cooking over an open flame or fire out-of-doors. Subsection (b) makes camping on public property unlawful unless specifically authorized by the appropriate governmental authority through ordinance, rule, regulation or permit, meaning any encampment on city-owned land, streets, or leased public property is presumptively prohibited absent an express permit. The Code is careful, however, to say that the mere act of sleeping on public property is not by itself a violation; subsection (c) requires an officer to find, at minimum, that the person occupies dedicated or leased public property and is either inside a tent, sleeping bag, or covered by blankets, newspapers or cardboard, or inside some other temporary shelter, has built a campfire, or admits when woken that he or she has no home or permanent shelter.

The most consequential protection sits in subsection (d): before citing anyone for a Section 50-7 violation, if that person is homeless, the officer must give them the opportunity to enter a homeless shelter or alternative shelter. If no shelter is available at that time, no citation may be issued at all. Only if a shelter placement is available and the person refuses to relocate may a citation follow. 00, imprisonment up to 60 days, or both, with continuing violations charged per day.