Fargo City Commissioner Dave Piepkorn on WDAY Midday, speaking with Reporter Ty Schonert
FARGO, ND — As the City of Fargo continues to craft housing policy for the city’s homeless, a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court is giving the city another option.
Friday’s recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling allows cities to remove homeless “campers” from public property. The reading from Fargo City Attorney Nancy Morris was followed by clapping from the audience after she stated “It is not unconstitutional to make it illegal to camp on public property. That is the decision of the Supreme Court.”
“Now what the staff is going to do is look at that ordinance and come up with some ideas.” said Mayor Mahoney, following the reading.
Fargo City Commissioner Dave Piepkorn spoke in favor of removing people from the established encampments. He proposed a hypothetical $50 fine for those found camping outside of established zones.
“If they get fined enough, they’ll figure out ‘well, I can’t afford to pay all of these fines.’ and they quit camping along the river in Fargo. They either go someplace else or they find other housing,” said Piepkorn.
Piepkorn asserts it continues to be illegal to camp along the river-front, and that fines are need to be established to prevent the behavior.
