Stonecrest, GA Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Encampment Sanitation (2026)

Adopted by Ordinance No. 2018-10-03 and codified at City Code § 16-27, Stonecrest's urban-camping ban defines "camp" as residing in or using a public street, sidewalk or park for private living accommodations, including erecting tents or other temporary shelter, sleeping in one place for a substantial prolonged period, or regularly cooking or preparing meals there. "Storing personal property" is defined separately as leaving effects such as clothing, bedrolls, cookware, sleeping bags, luggage, knapsacks or backpacks unattended for a substantial prolonged length of time, though the section carves out parked bicycles from that definition.

Subsection (b) bans camping or storing personal property outright in any park owned by the city, covering municipal parks, playgrounds, plazas, attractions and monuments as defined in the section. Subsection (d) reaches further, banning camping, sleeping and storing personal property on any other public property whenever the conduct interferes with ingress or egress from a building, which lets code enforcement clear an encampment blocking a doorway even outside a designated park. Before anyone can be arrested under § 16-27, subsection (e) requires an oral or written warning to cease the conduct; only a person who ignores that warning is subject to arrest for urban camping.

The section also lists ten narrow exceptions covering medical emergencies, wheelchair users, parade and sidewalk-cafe patrons, festivalgoers, bus-zone waiting and ticket lines, so the ban targets sustained encampments rather than momentary rest.