The Comstock Township Board voted to advance a new ordinance addressing trespassing and camping on township-owned property to a first reading. This is the first of two votes required before it can take effect.
Township officials said the ordinance grew out of a gap identified months ago by the township’s ordinance enforcement officer: Comstock’s only existing trespassing ordinance covered trespassing by vehicle, leaving officers and the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office without clear local authority to address situations on public land, including encampments in township parks or along waterways. In response, the township formed a homeless committee to develop a recommendation, which came to the board by majority vote of that committee.
The new ordinance establishes a general prohibition on trespassing on any property the township owns, and a separate prohibition on camping specifically on township-owned outdoor land such as parks and along waterways. Under the ordinance, an officer or sheriff’s deputy would first approach a person, explain the law, and point them toward available help and resources before asking them to leave. Only if the person refuses to leave would it become an enforceable trespassing violation. Violations would be treated as misdemeanors rather than civil infractions. Township officials said a civil infraction alone doesn’t give enforcement the authority to actually remove someone from a property, since a person could simply continue accumulating tickets without being required to leave.
The ordinance includes an exception for emergencies: during a natural disaster or similar situation, law enforcement or other authorized township personnel could permit camping on township property. Officials also said the ordinance is not intended to cover constitutionally protected activity such as protests or sit-ins, which involve a separate legal analysis.
The board’s vote Monday was on first reading only, meaning the ordinance is not yet in effect. Under state law, most ordinance changes require two votes: a first reading to formally introduce and advance the text, and a second reading, often paired with adoption, where the board makes it official. Township officials said a written policy guiding how the ordinance enforcement officer and the sheriff’s department will handle enforcement is still being developed and will be brought forward alongside that second reading and possible adoption at the board’s next meeting.
