BOZEMAN — Tuesday night, the Bozeman City Commission will be discussing a proposed permit program that allows urban campers to live in the public right of way for a 30-day period. But how are urban campers feeling about that?
Meet Steven Ankney: “It’s been a battle. I fight addiction and mental illness myself, so I've ended up homeless three years ago."
Steven grew up right here in the Gallatin Valley. His family moved here from their reservation in 1988, and he’s called the area home ever since. But Steven tells me life doesn’t always go the way you plan.
“I’ve been out on this part of the neighborhood for three years now. I’ve just moved around this block,” says Steven.
If you’ve driven around the Max Avenue area near WinCo, you may have seen Steven working on cars or generators. He tells me he’s been making his living as a mobile mechanic, as well as the go-to handyman in the urban camping community.
“I feel responsible to take care of everybody else out here because I’m out here taking a free service myself. So, I feel like I need to pay my way. And that’s my way of doing it," he says.
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When Steven isn't working as a fixer-upper, he’s staying up to date with the changing urban camping rules. In fact, he’ll be at Tuesday's City Commission meeting where they’ll be discussing a new permit program.
“The ordinance would disallow public camping in the right of way, except for situations where people applied for a permit,” Bozeman Mayor Terry Cunningham tells me.
“They would apply for a permit on a monthly basis or a 30-day basis. It would cost $25. And it could be renewed at the city manager's discretion. And that permit program would end in a year," he adds.
In other words, no new urban campers will be allowed when that year is up.
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I met up with Mayor Cunningham and asked why the city feels the need to implement this permit program.
“Now that the Supreme Court has ruled that we do not, as a municipality, have to open up our public right away to camping, we want to comply with that. But we also want to create a situation where there could be a permit program in place," says Cunningham.
Mayor Cunningham expects a full house at Tuesday night’s Commission meeting. Steven, along with a few other urban campers I spoke to Monday afternoon, will be a part of that crowd.
“The permit, I think, is a good thing. I think we need to keep better management of who's out here, who's not. Who's working, and who's just taking advantage of the system,” says Steven—but he says he still plans to voice his concerns.
“Every 30 days to move? That's tough. That’s expensive," Steven says. "I get what they’re doing. They try to make us move to make our areas cleaner, so we don't get used to a place. But storage works just the same."
The City Commission meeting will be held at City Hall Tuesday night at 5 p.m. Anyone is welcome to come voice their opinion.
“We need the community's input. We need to know everybody's feelings and thoughts. This is everybody's town, I get it—this is MY hometown,” says Steven.
