TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Tucson City Council voted to ban standing or walking in city medians for any reason other than legal crossing Tuesday night.
A violation could land someone an up to $250 fine and/or up to 24 hours in jail. However, in city communications, City Manager Tim Thomure said that "not every violation of these ordinances will result in an enforcement action or citation" due to a lack of city resources.
The traffic median ordinance was one of three that Tucson's Mayor and Council considered at their meeting. All three related to Tucson's unhoused or housing insecure populations.
In November, Arizonans approved Proposition 312, which allows property owners to apply for a tax refund if their property is damaged because of a lack of city enforcement on camping or public nuisance and decency rules.
Tucson city attorney Mike Rankin said in a January Mayor and Council study session that the city would need to amend certain sections of the Tucson code to put the city in a better position to defend itself against possible lawsuits against the city relating to Proposition 312.
Though the ordinance of traffic medians passed 5-1— with Vice Mayor Lane Santa-Cruz voting against the ordinance and Council member Richard Fimbres abstaining— the other two ordinances, which both related to public camping, faced a different fate.
One of the other ordinances asked the council to consider banning camping in washes, an ordinance that had shown up on other council agendas but had never made it to the Council chambers.
That ordinance failed after a 3-3 vote. Councilmembers Paul Cunningham, Lane Santa-Cruz and Kevin Dahl broke stride with Mayor Romero and Councilmembers Karen Ulich and Nicki Lee to vote against the ordinance. Councilmember Richard Fimbres did not vote.
The final ordinance—which wasn't voted on in this meeting— asked the council to amend Tucson code to change the definition of camping, making it consistent throughout the code and following the lead of 2024 Supreme Court Case that ruled it wasn't unconstitutional to penalize unhoused individuals for sleeping in public even when no shelter beds are available.
That ordinance would also ban camping in city parks, which is currently only banned "overnight."
City Attorney Rankin said that if there is a successful Proposition 312 lawsuit stemming from one of these ordinances, he and City Manger Thomure will bring that ordinance back to the council to make changes.
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Alex Dowd is a multimedia journalist at KGUN 9, where her work combines her two favorite hobbies: talking to new people and learning about the community around her. Her goal is to eventually meet every single person in Tucson. Share your story ideas with Alex via email, alex.dowd@kgun9.com, or connecting on Instagram or X.
