Sandy Springs, GA Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Encampment Sanitation (2026)

City Code § 38-60 defines "camp" as residing in or using a public street, sidewalk, or park for private living accommodations: erecting tents or temporary shelters, sleeping in one place for a substantial prolonged period, or regularly cooking meals there. Subsection (b) makes it unlawful to camp or to store personal property, defined to include bedrolls, cookware, luggage, and backpacks left unattended for a prolonged time, in any park owned by the city (the ban does not reach the parks defined separately in § 42-1).

Enforcement runs through the Sandy Springs Police Department, and under subsection (e) no one may be arrested for a first violation: an officer must first issue an oral or written warning, and only continued refusal to comply exposes the violator to arrest for urban camping. Subsection (f) exempts ten specific situations from the whole camping section, including people sitting in wheelchairs on sidewalks, those seated at sidewalk cafes or attending a parade, people lying down at a festival or concert, and children asleep in a stroller.

Because § 38-60 sets no fine of its own, a conviction defaults to the citywide general penalty in § 1-10(c): a fine up to $1,000, up to six months in jail, up to 30 days of confinement at labor, or a combination, with each continuing day of violation counted as a separate offense under § 1-10(d). The section was adopted December 1, 2005 (Ord. No. 2005-12-09), as the newly incorporated city organized its own code out of the former unincorporated Fulton County area.