The Portland City Council is set to vote on a measure to legalize homeless encampments on public property.

The measure, which will amend existing city ordinances, “would create a temporary exception to the City's prohibition on camping and loitering on City property and would allow unhoused people to camp on certain public property,” according to the agenda for Monday’s meeting.  

Camping would not be allowed on “downtown streets or sidewalks, playgrounds, City Hall Plaza, Monument Square, and within 250 feet of schools.”

The council already did its first reading on Nov. 13. If passed by a majority on Monday, the measure would be effective through April 30, 2024.

The Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce wrote in a mass email to the public, stating the proposal " would threaten the public health and safety of those in the encampments and the surrounding neighbors, businesses and visitors.”

The issue is just one part of the ongoing citywide problem of helping the homeless. Right now, tents dot the landscape underneath the Casco Bay Bridge, but this is only the latest encampment.  

Others had existed along Marginal Way and the Bayside Trail. Officials are trying to find adequate temporary emergency housing until homeless residents can locate permanent homes. 

The email from the chamber included contact information for Mayor Kate Snyder and all the city councilors.  

Councilor and Mayor-Elect Mark Dion did not respond to a request for comment from Spectrum News, nor did the measure’s sponsors, Councilors Roberto Rodriguez and Anna Trevorrow.