If a person is going through homelessness, the rules in Bend are different if they choose to camp in a tent or they choose to camp in a vehicle.

Should they be closer to the same for consistency? For other reasons? That’s a change the Bend City Council is considering.

Tent camping is limited to 24 hours. Then the camp must be moved a block or 600 feet. Vehicle camping has a 3 business day maximum. There is no clear movement requirement after that time.

Tent camping is not allowed in residential areas in Bend. Vehicle camping is allowed in residential areas.

Tent camping has a maximum density of three camping spots per block. Vehicle camping has no density limit.

The proposal from city staff is to align vehicle camping codes more closely with tent camping. It’s not clear from Wednesday’s Bend City Council meeting how each councilor feels about all the particulars. But Councilor Barb Campbell came out forcefully against the changes. Whether you agree with Campbell or not, she highlighted concerns surely shared by some others in the community.

“This change is going to mean that we are more cruel to people who live in vehicles in order to align that with our tent camping code, which is the one that is the more cruel of the two to people who are the most vulnerable in our society,” Campbell said.

As soon as city staff began the presentation, Campbell pointed out that it was not available to councilors or the public in advance. She called for a roundtable discussion and more stakeholder involvement. She said if anything, the city should be more accommodating — not more restrictive.

“They can always move out into the forest,” Campbell said.

“I don’t think it’s accurate to say that we are basically telling people to go camp in the woods,” Mayor Melanie Kebler responded.

It got a little tetchy with Kebler telling Campbell not to talk at the same time as other councilors. But was by no means a record setter for Bend City Council confrontation.

The more important issue is: How do you feel about the possible changes?

When city staff said it is not looking for ways to make life more difficult for people experiencing homelessness, we believe them. When they say they prioritize more significant health and safety problems, we believe them.

We have gone out with city code enforcement and police officers as they have worked with the homeless. Of course, they had us hanging around. But they were polite, kind and yet explicit and insistent about the rules.

And since Bend implemented its camping code, it has not issued a single citation for violations of the camping or parking code. That doesn’t mean the city hasn’t cleaned up camps or made people move. It has used the code as a tool, not as a weapon to make the situation for a person going through homelessness worse.

Councilors gave direction to staff to make some recommendations and bring them back to a meeting on Sept. 18. The recommendations should be available to the public before the meeting, so the public has a chance to review them in advance.

You can find more information here: tinyurl.com/Bendcamping.