Aberdeen Police began enforcing the city’s public camping and sidewalk laws Tuesday, after a federal court judge lifted a temporary restraining order Sept. 13 that had blocked enforcement.

“Starting tomorrow we’ll begin active enforcement of those laws,” announced Aberdeen Mayor Erik Larson at the special City Council meeting Monday evening. He said both laws were enforceable immediately after the court hearing, but Aberdeen Police provided a grace period for enforcement, issuing warnings for non-compliance until Oct. 1.

“Violations of the public camping and sit-lie ordinances are civil infractions and are not subject to arrest or criminal prosecution,” read a statement from Larson, who said Monday those in violation of the laws face a $25 civil citation. However, “individuals maintaining an encampment in violation of the public camping and sit-lie ordinances may also be found to be maintaining a public nuisance … and be subject to criminal charges and removal of the encampment subject to abatement procedures and policies.”

The public camping ordinance bars people from camping on sidewalks and most other public places and right of ways, but if there is no overnight shelter available, that portion of the law can’t be enforced.

Having a location for the homeless to camp was critical to U.S. Circuit Court Judge Ronald B. Leighton’s removal of the temporary restraining order against both laws, after a precedent-setting Ninth Circuit Court ruling in the Martin v Boise case stated the City of Boise, Idaho, could not enforce its laws against sleeping on sidewalks if it did not have another place for the people to go.

The city continues to move toward a larger, longer-term shelter at recently-purchased property at 421 S. Michigan St. to replace the current temporary 60-person camp at City Hall. A public hearing on the proposed Michigan Street site has been scheduled for the regular Oct. 9 City Council meeting.

Larson told those in attendance of the special meeting Monday the removal of violators of the laws “won’t happen overnight,” and asked the public to immediately report violators of the laws to the Aberdeen Police Department.

The sit-lie law covers the city’s business improvement district, primarily bordered by East First Street, F Street, State Street, and K Street, and extends a couple blocks farther west on Wishkah Street.