Outdoor-Sleeping Ban In Haddonfield Tabled: What It Means For Homelessness

HADDONFIELD, NJ — Haddonfield's commissioners voted Monday to table a proposed ordinance addressing homelessness, pausing the effort to pass a controversial ordinance that would have criminalized sleeping outside.

The ordinance received significant public scrutiny over the past month, with critics claiming it would have effectively criminalized homelessness without addressing its root causes.

Haddonfield's Board of Commissioners could still decide to take up the ordinance in the future. But for now, the governing body is pursuing other options, said Mayor Dave Siedell, who is one of the borough's three commissioners.

Related coverage:

• Aug. 26: Ban On Sleeping Outside In Haddonfield Moves Forward, Despite Pushback
• Sept. 26: Controversial Homelessness Policy Tabled, As Haddonfield Considers New Paths

"(Tabling the ordinance) doesn’t mean the conversation is over," Siedell said on social media, "however; it means we need more research and community input to get this right. Safety matters, and so does compassion, and we’ll keep working on balanced, evidence-based solutions."

Here's what tabling the ordinance means for Haddonfield.

What Was Proposed?

The proposed policy — referred to as the "Peace & Good Order" ordinance — would have made it a municipal crime to sleep outside at night, obstruct public areas, and to publicly urinate or defecate. General disorderly actions, such as hurling boisterous language at people, were also part of the ordinance.

While some of those actions that create disturbances are punishable under state laws, legislating them as municipal crimes gives the borough more leeway to enforce them as they see fit.

The proposed ordinance would have made the actions punishable by up to 90 days in prison, a maximum fine of $2,000, or up to 90 days of community service upon conviction.

Violations would only be enforceable if there were homeless shelters with available space and police have informed the violator of those options.

On Aug. 25, the commissioners voted 2-1 to introduce the ordinance, which would require a future vote for adoption to become law.

Siedell voted in favor because something needed to be done about an increasing number of incidents involving homeless people in the borough — including public urination and trespassing into backyards. But he expressed that he was open to finding a different approach.

Cole, a strong critic of the ordinance, voted against it.

New Considerations

At that meeting, Cole suggested a different approach that's been picking up momentum: hiring a social worker who can build relationships with homeless people to guide them toward assistance.

Borough officials are now looking into crafting an ordinance that would make this a reality.

The Haddonfield Council of Churches has been working to set up a nonprofit to support that hire, Cole said. The borough can also fund this effort with its share of settlement money from landmark national opioid lawsuits.

"Tonight, the Commission chose not to criminalize homelessness," Cole said Monday night on social media. "The work ahead is to strengthen community partnerships, invest in social services, and use the very funds born out of corporate wrongdoing to help restore lives."

The commissioners discussed this approach in-depth during the board's Sept. 8 work session, when all three of them agreed to table the Peace & Good Order ordinance.

Although Commissioner Frank Troy agreed to give the new plan a chance, he also advocated for the "tough love" approach from the Peace & Good Order ordinance.

"I do think there’s a lot of young people out there that — especially if they’re early in their stage of homelessness — we really have to double down and get them out of that," Troy said at the Sept. 8 meeting.

By The Numbers

Haddonfield has about four to six chronically homeless people, according to Police Chief Jason Cutler. But reports to police involving them have been rising, he said at the Aug. 25 meeting.

Borough police received 144 of such reports as of that date in 2025 — compared to 88 at that time last year.

Many of the calls involve well-being checks, trespassing or disorderly conduct, Cutler said. Most don't lead to arrests, but some of Haddonfield's homeless population has been arrested for trespassing in the past — "mostly using public bathrooms to bathe, defecating in public areas, trespassing businesses after getting asked to leave and not leaving."

Haddonfield has some public bathrooms at outdoor facilities, but none are open 24 hours. The police station is borough's only facility that's publicly accessible 24/7.

What's Next?

Ordinances must pass a vote for introduction and a vote for adoption.

The commissioners voted last month to introduce the Peace & Good Order ordinance. The ensuing decision to table it gives the commissioners time to examine other solutions without putting the ordinance to a final vote yet.

If the commissioners don't vote on the Peace & Good Order ordinance by the end of the calendar year, it will have to be re-introduced.

Borough officials have been working to craft a new ordinance that would put the social-work solution into effect.