AUSTIN, Texas — "Out of sight and out of mind" is how Josiah Ingalls describes the Austin camping ban, the city-wide ordinance he feels will push the homeless further away from the help they need in the community. 

What You Need To Know

  • Austin man offers private land for people experiencing homelessness to camp 

  • Josiah Ingalls once lived on the streets when he was younger

  • Some area residents are concerned about safety

“When you are homeless so much of your mental and emotional existence goes to survive the next day. It’s hard to have the mental capacity to be able to think about long-term things,” said Josiah Ingalls. 

Ingalls says he experienced homelessness on the streets of San Antonio at the early age of 17.

“In that time frame, I was beat up. I was robbed for what little I had. I was made fun of and I was spit on. People talk about how they feel that they have nothing when they have everything around them. But to actually be treated like you are dirt, that is a pain that never goes away,” recalled Ingalls.

Ingalls felt he had to turn his pain into empowerment to help others experiencing homelessness in the city. Since the passing of the "no sit, no lie" ordinance back in May, Ingalls found a second option to help a marginalized community.

“Now that they can’t go on public lands they need to go somewhere. The only option is privately owned land,” said Ingalls.

Ingalls owns a landscaping company which owns land in an Austin subdivision, Hornsby Glen. He’s planning to use the privately owned land as a sanctioned camping site for anyone experiencing homelessness.

Residents in the neighborhood expressed concerned at the possibility of having strangers living outside near their front yards. 

“I’m not too happy with that. I mean I have little ones that are always here. We moved here to get away from the city and all of that and for them to bring it out here, to me it’s just unsafe,” said Angele Puente

Ingalls says he expects backlash from the community but when it’s all said and done he hopes his plan is considered a solution instead of an additional problem.

We reached out to the City of Austin regarding the use of privately owned land as a sanctioned camping site. You can read the full statement below:

"City Code section 9-4-11 does not prohibit landowners from permitting others to use their property for camping – it is a prohibition on people camping in public areas, as that term is defined in section 9-4-11. While we can’t answer hypothetical questions about an individual’s use of their property for any proposed purpose, we would caution that a landowner considering opening their property for camping or any other purpose will want to make sure their use of their property complies with all other laws, regulations, or restrictions that may control how any given parcel of land may be lawfully used. The City’s Homeless Strategy Division continues to assess the most viable options for designated encampments on both City-owned land and other properties.”