Rock Hill, SC Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Encampment Sanitation (2026)

Section 26-17 of the Rock Hill Code of Ordinances, adopted by Ordinance No. 2022-14 in April 2022, sets out prohibited behavior on public property and defines 'camp or camping' broadly as using public property 'as a temporary or permanent place of dwelling, lodging, or residence, or as a living accommodation at any time between sunset and sunrise, or as a sojourn,' with indicators including storing personal belongings, pitching tents, cooking or lighting fires, digging, or laying out bedding to sleep. Subsection (e)(2) makes it unlawful, absent specific authorization, to use any street, sidewalk, park, or playground, or any other public property, for camping, or to leave a vehicle in such places to the detriment of public travel; a sidewalk cafe operating under a city permit is expressly excluded from this ban.

Subsection (e)(3) separately bars lighting a campfire or bonfire on public property without a permit, and (e)(4) bars attaching rope, wire, chain, or an electrical device or power cord to public property such as buildings, bridges, or utility poles. G. Critically, subsection (e)(5) builds in a constitutional carve-out drawn from the findings in subsection (a): law enforcement officers 'shall not enforce' the camping prohibition against a person on public property whenever there is no available overnight shelter space in the city, a limitation the ordinance also applies to its separate ban on occupying a building or vehicle without permission under subsection (d)(2).