DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Daytona Beach city commissioners are set to vote Wednesday on a ban on public camping, as leaders work to comply with Florida’s new anti-camping law that largely prohibits people from sleeping outside.
Under the proposal, enforcement would be considered a last resort. If police do detain someone, officers would have the option to bring them to a designated safe zone at First Step Shelter rather than jail.
“We have a shelter, which is a program for people who we help go into housing,” said Victoria Fahlberg, executive director of First Step Shelter. “And then we also have what’s called the Rose and Safe Zone. The way the safety zone works is if an officer in any of our partnership cities sees a person who is committing a minor ordinance violation, instead of taking them over to the jail and going through all the expense and hassle, they can actually just bring them out to our safe zone and they can stay here overnight.”
[WATCH BELOW: The math of homelessness in Central Florida]
The safe zone offers people a bed, a meal and access to services.
Advocates warn that bans on public camping often create more problems than they solve.
A News 6 analysis earlier this year found that Orange County has made more than 70 arrests in 2025 for “camping prohibited.” At $144 a day per inmate, Orange County has already spent more than $4 million to house and treat people arrested under the ordinance.
“What am I supposed to do?” said Melissa Vickers with the Orange County Public Defender’s Office. “We’re arresting a bunch of people who don’t have a home, we’re releasing them back onto the street still with no home… and we’re criminalizing the fact that they don’t have a home to go to.”
News 6 reached out to the Volusia County Jail, which said it is too early to know what the impact of Daytona Beach’s potential ban will be, but emphasized that its priority remains the safety and security of employees and inmates.
News 6 is continuing its investigation into how local governments are responding to Florida’s new anti-camping law. You can read more at ClickOrlando.com.