UT senior vice president Darrell Bazzell asked Mayor Steve Adler and the Austin City Council to prohibit homeless individuals from camping along the perimeter of the University and West Campus in a letter Wednesday.

“As you continue to review possible changes to city ordinances, I hope the Council will work to improve public safety by prohibiting camping by members of the public in areas along the entire perimeter of campus, as well as in the area west of campus where many students live, work, and gather,” Bazzell said. “These are high pedestrian areas that are not the safest or most humane places for homeless people to gather and where public safety risks or hazards could exist for our students.” 

The Austin City Council approved an ordinance that went into effect in July that lifted bans on where homeless individuals are allowed to camp in Austin. But they’ve since been deliberating making changes to the ordinance, deciding last week to postpone their vote until the week of Oct. 10. 

“We are firmly committed to protecting the safety of our students, employees, visitors and all Austinites both through the short-term policies discussed above and long-term strategies that we must develop together,” Bazzell said. 

In his letter, CFO Bazzell cited two incidents within the last week as indicators for changes to the camping ordinance. On Monday, it was reported that a homeless man had been charged with making terroristic threats against the University. That same day, the Austin Police Department responded to an aggravated assault at the intersection of 23rd and San Antonio streets, where a suspect with a “machete-like knife” injured a man. 

“While the cause of any incident may be difficult to know immediately, these episodes remind us of the need for greater safety in the areas around campus,” Bazzell said. 

#mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; width:100%;}
/* Add your own Mailchimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block.
We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */

UT Police Department Chief David Carter asked for the same restrictions to be placed on West Campus and the perimeter of campus in a letter to Adler last month.
                          
“Large numbers of students, staff members and faculty members travel on foot throughout the day and night, and permitting camping, sitting and lying down in those areas poses a similar public health and safety risk,” Carter said in the letter.