Wylie, TX Homelessness & Encampment Rules: Encampment Sanitation (2026)

Sec. 74-41 defines 'camp' broadly to include storing personal belongings, building a fire, using a tent, shelter or vehicle for living accommodation, cooking, or digging, and defines 'public place' to reach city-owned buildings and facilities, parks, rights-of-way, flood and drainage easements, vacant city-owned lots, and outdoor areas such as streets, alleys, parking lots and sidewalks. The same section adopts the term 'shelter' as defined by Texas Penal Code § 48.05, tying Wylie's ordinance directly to the state law that made unauthorized public camping a state offense and pushed cities to adopt their own enforcement rules.

Sec. 74-42(a) makes it an offense to camp in a public place not designated as a campsite by the city; subsection (b) lists totality-of-the-circumstances factors, including use of the place for living-accommodation purposes regardless of the person's stated intent. Subsection (c) exempts permitted camping in a designated campsite, and subsection (d) creates an affirmative defense for a person who owns the property or has the owner's permission. Subsection (e) authorizes the city to abate a violation by summary removal of tents, bedding and other personal belongings and equipment, and subsection (f) declares any violation a public nuisance and extends enforcement 5,000 feet outside the Wylie city limits.

Adopted by Ord. No. 2025-13 on March 25, 2025, the ordinance gives Wylie police and code enforcement a clear no-camping rule for parks, rights-of-way and other public property, paired with removal authority rather than reliance on after-the-fact prosecution alone.