PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – The City of Grants Pass reached a settlement with two nonprofits that challenged the city’s camping policies in an effort to improve conditions for homeless people with disabilities.

In January, nonprofit organizations Disability Rights Oregon and Oregon Law Center filed an emergency lawsuit aiming to pause the city’s recent homeless camping policies — arguing that the city was violating state law that required camping regulations to be “objectively reasonable.”

The lawsuit pointed to a city policy implemented in August of 2024 that banned homeless camping on city property. As reported by the Associated Press, the city had one homeless shelter at the time “and its rules requiring attendance at religious services and barring pets, alcohol, drugs and smoking mean many won’t stay there.”

In their lawsuit, the nonprofits claimed that the shelter space was “flooded” with people facing homelessness and physically inaccessible for people with disabilities.

Additionally, the city had designated two spaces on city property as places where unsheltered people could stay. However, the city later closed the larger of the campsites, and as AP notes, “made the remaining smaller one only open from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m., forcing people to pack up their belongings every morning and carry them throughout the day with no place where they can legally set down their things.”

The lawsuit brought by the nonprofits also listed five people facing homelessness as plaintiffs, including people who use wheelchairs and canes, who argued that the camping policies discriminated against people with disabilities.

As part of the settlement, the city must provide ample drinking water at all approved camp sites and provide accessible, low-barrier camping for 150 people in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act for the next 12 months. Additionally, the city must provide a $60,000 grant to a local nonprofit supporting homeless residents.

“Oregon can’t arrest its way out of homelessness, and we are pleased the city has committed to developing more humane and legally compliant approaches to this public health crisis,” said Jake Cornett, executive director and chief executive officer of Disability Rights Oregon. “This settlement represents a significant step forward in ensuring people with disabilities experiencing homelessness have places to rest, basic necessities like drinking water, and real opportunity to stabilize their lives.”

“Requiring people to ‘move along’ every day doesn’t get people into housing, it just makes life harder and more dangerous,” added Allison Nasson, staff attorney at Oregon Law Center. “When you have been forced to live outside, you still need water, a bathroom, and a place to rest.”

Along with the settlement, the Josephine County court ended its pause on the city’s camping policy, with the city announcing Friday, “In the next day or two law enforcement will begin noticing the parks and occupants will have 72 hours to remove their belongings. The resting sites will remain open, but now the 96-hour length-of-stay restrictions can be enforced unless an ADA accommodation is necessary.”

The lawsuit from the nonprofits followed a separate lawsuit against the City of Grants Pass, which later made its way to the Supreme Court of the United States.

The high court ruled that cities are allowed to enforce camping bans, with the Associated Press reporting, “Last June’s Supreme Court ruling made the southern Oregon mountain town of 40,000 the unlikely face of the nation’s homelessness crisis. It ushered in a new era of homeless policy by allowing cities across the U.S. to ban sleeping outside and fine people for doing so, even when there aren’t enough shelter beds.”