The Duluth City Council has adopted an amended version of a controversial proposal to crack down on public camping that supporters say does not criminalize homelessness.

By a 5-4 vote after a marathon meeting Monday night that spanned nearly seven hours, the council opted to make camping on city property an “ordinance violation” with a maximum fine of $200, rather than a misdemeanor offense that could have resulted in prison time.

“This amendment removes the criminal penalty while retaining the authority to make someone move to a safer place,” said City Council President Roz Randorf, one of the amendment’s co-sponsors.

The council also passed a resolution “affirming the city’s support for those experiencing homelessness,” and recommended that the city allocate $500,000 to help build a triage center to provide emergency housing for people experiencing homelessness and help connect them to services.

The measures were among several ordinances pushed by Duluth Mayor Roger Reinert to address a host of public safety and quality of life issues that the city says make up the bulk of complaints and calls, including graffiti, property trespassing, destruction of the city’s skywalk system and blocking of streets and sidewalks.

Many of those ordinances made those activities crimes — a tool Duluth police didn’t previously have, Reinert said. He said it was out of step with other regional centers around the state.

But it was the proposal to make public camping a misdemeanor offense, with potential penalties of up to 90 days in jail and fines of up to $1,000, that generated the majority of community discussion.

One such proposal was made possible by a US Supreme Court ruling last month that cities can legally ban people from sleeping and camping in public places. Earlier this year, the Rochester City Council passed an ordinance making public camping a misdemeanor offense.

Critics, including dozens of people who addressed the council for nearly four hours Monday night, blasted the proposal, arguing that not having a home is not a crime.

They also said it didn’t address the root causes driving homelessness in Duluth and elsewhere, including the lack of shelters and affordable housing.

In response to those concerns, four council members proposed amending the ordinance to make public camping punishable by fines only.

“For me personally, the community’s feedback on this resonated with me,” explained Councilman Arik Forsman, who co-authored the amendment. He said in the future they could reconsider the ordinance when Duluth has more shelter beds available.

“But I didn’t feel comfortable going forward with the offense piece at this time,” Forsman said.

Some council members weren’t comfortable with the $200 fine, either.

“I think approving any kind of punitive measure is not the answer,” said Councilwoman Wendy Durrwachter, acknowledging that addressing the homelessness crisis is a slow process.

“I know a lot of people are losing their patience,” she said.

The measure to allocate an additional $500,000 in funding for a triage center passed by an 8-1 vote. That center is a key component of an initiative launched by a coalition of 10 community service organizations in Duluth, called To step upa five-year effort to combat homelessness in the city.

With the $500,000 pledged by the City Council, the organizations would be only about $400,000 short of raising the $2.1 million needed to build the triage center.

“With this vote, the council cannot communicate more clearly that we want this project done, we need it,” Randdorf said. “Ticket is not the answer.”

Despite the extra funding, groups pushing for the center have been unable to secure a site to build it.

“We couldn’t get the city to budge, neither the previous administration nor this one, on us acquiring city land,” said John Cole, executive director of Chum, the largest shelter in Duluth.

Cole said a recent Supreme Court ruling has also taken county tax-forfeited land off the table.

In a letter to Reinert, Cole and other leaders of social service organizations expressed concern about the ordinances and the potential consequences of a “punitive approach” to homelessness.

Those groups also criticized city officials for not consulting them before releasing the proposals last month.

But speaking after hours of public comment at Monday’s council meeting, Reinert said there was consultation.

“It happened last year in the form of an election,” he said, during which he said he consistently talked about public safety during debates and forums.

Reinert said it shouldn’t have been a surprise that his administration proposed these public safety changes.

“They represent the issues that Duluthians most often call and say they want to address,” Reinert said. “And they also represent the issues that our public safety team is most often trying to address.”

Several business owners and downtown Essentia Health executives who work downtown spoke in favor of the public safety package, including measures to make graffiti and blocking passage on sidewalks and streets misdemeanors.

“Quality of life issues in our downtown have exploded in recent years, challenging the economic vitality of our businesses, from drug use, smoking and needles, to feces in doorways and graffiti plastered over buildings,” said Kristi Stokes, president of Downtown Duluth.

“These are things that are difficult for me to share publicly. But there comes a time when we need to rip off the Band-Aid and really share and acknowledge the challenges we face,” Stokes said.

Community service agency representatives acknowledged these public safety concerns and asked for support in providing the services needed to address homelessness.

“We hope that the past few weeks represent the beginning of conversations toward revitalized partnerships and real solutions,” said Cole, CEO of Chum.