Downtown Columbia business owners voice support for urban camping ordinance, dissenter questions effectiveness in other cities

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Two local downtown business owners are putting their support behind a proposal for an urban camping ordinance for downtown Columbia.

Executive Director of Columbia's Downtown Community Improvement District Nickie Davis said the CID plans to submit a proposal letter to the City Council on Friday, ahead of its Monday meeting. Davis said the letter will also be signed by some downtown business owners.

"What we have right now, it's very scattered through all the different ordinances that we have as a city. It's not entirely clear what is enforceable, what's not enforceable. We know that many of the ordinances that this urban camping ordinance would contain are things we already have on the books," Davis said.

Dimetrious Woods, owner of Essentialz Neighborhood Bodega on the corner of Ninth Street and East Broadway, said he signed the proposal letter in support of the move.

"I looked into it and I seen that it wasn't a criminalization or anything on a negative end. It seemed like more of a respect thing, more of an organized thing," Woods said.

Woods and his business are no strangers to unhoused individuals and said his relationship with them is built on respect.

"Most of those people happen to be my customers," Woods said. "I have to be assertive at times, but I offer respect back and it seems to work out somehow."

Davis said the proposal was inspired by a city staff retreat to Columbia, South Carolina, during the fall of 2025, but the idea got put on the back burner.

"With our new block-by-block safety ambassadors, it's really important that we have a clear understanding of what we have on the books as far as people sleeping downtown, people sitting on the sidewalks," Davis said.

Woods expressed the need for respect to remain at the core of any formal ordinance passed.

"They kind of protect my front, they know I want it clean, so they definitely don't sleep under our porch because I would have an issue with that," Woods said. "Just explain to them this is what's expected. I think it may go over well."

Jim Yankee, owner of Flat Branch Bank and founder of Flat Branch Home Loans, said he hasn't signed the CID's proposal letter yet, but he plans to.

"The police need something to be able to enforce, when somebody is obviously creating a bad situation," Yankee said.

Davis said one suggestion on the table for the potential ordinance is a "three-strike rule."

"It's a warning, it's a citation and then it's actually a little bit more serious after that third warning," Davis said.

Yankee voiced his support for the strike system.

"The biggest thing is being able to to force them to go get help and get services. They're not receiving the services that they need camping out in the park at night. A lot of these people have addiction issues, they have mental health issues," Yankee said.

Major Nancy Powers, with the Salvation Army Columbia, expressed concern over a lack of wrap-around services in the community to keep people transitioning out of an unhoused lifestyle stable.

"The problem is so deep rooted that 'housing first' is not the answer," Powers wrote in a statement to ABC 17 News. "Putting people who have been abused, trafficked, given drugs since childhood, never known a safe environment, have no life skills, don’t know the difference between sex and love, in an apartment sets them up for one more failure."

Powers said she moved to Columbia from a city with an urban camping ordinance and questioned its effectiveness.

"The homeless did not follow it, the City was faced with horrid PR as their staff went in and threw away all the camping supplies and personal items," Powers wrote. "The homeless got more clever in their camps and set traps and city staff started getting injured, some seriously injured."

Davis said the CID is looking for a three-month turnaround to get the ordinance in place. If the need for more time arises, Davis said a six-month timeline could also occur. Woods believes a 90-day turnaround is doable, especially with the new Downtown Safety Ambassadors patrolling in the area.

"They could take charge or that responsibility to help CPD get valid information out and everything and be kind of a bridge to making that work," Woods said.

The City Council will not on the ordinance on Monday, but Davis said the first step is re-starting the conversation around it.