Lansford Borough will be reviewing its parks and recreation area ordinance after concerns about homeless people staying overnight in Ashton Park.

Councilwoman Michele Bartek said the ordinance needs to be more detailed because of the problem in the pool park, as well as Kennedy Park, where someone was sleeping on a park bench.

“You can’t have them sleep on park benches with their dogs and a bowl,” Bartek said. “It’s horrible. I feel bad, but the bottom line is we’re trying to improve this place (and) that cannot happen.

“You do not know where they’re defecating or their animals. It’s just a mess. I know it’s a touchy subject. Nobody wants to touch it. Well, it’s one that’s important.”

Councilwoman Gwyneth Collevechio said the ordinance already sets the park hours from sunrise to sunset. Bartek agreed but said they still need to put in language about the homeless.

Councilman John Zym disagreed, saying that the borough can’t target a specific group of people. They absolutely can and Lehighton has done it, Bartek said, raising her voice.

But Zym said he didn’t see anything in Lehighton’s ordinances to that effect, and Bartek said that she would go to Lehighton and get a copy and check with an attorney.

Collevechio still felt they should enforce the ordinance that they have, and Zym agreed.

“But if we’re going to enforce no parking for … a homeless person, then if they can’t park overnight or they can’t park after dusk, then why are we allowing the high school when there’s a game, people parking after dusk?” Zym asked.

Resident Erin Soberick, who raised the issue about the homeless on her community Facebook page, said the school district gets permission from council.

“The homeless did not get approval from council to park their vehicle there for two weeks, and I just want to say this a park with children,” she said. “It’s a very busy park.”

Zym countered that there was no one there with children at night, and Bartek said that there were.

“The fact is that they should have been chased,” Collevechio said. “They should have been told to leave at dusk, but that didn’t happen.”

Zym understood Collevechio’s point about enforcement, he said, but asked why people are allowed to park at the pool lot after dusk or overnight for snow removal in the winter. That should also be addressed in the ordinance.

“That’s the whole point, John. It has to be changed,” Bartek said. “We have to look at the ordinance, and we have to change it.”

Lansford doesn’t have facilities at the park, such as public bathrooms, she said, but they have people coming in. She referenced a nearby homeless encampment on coal company property between Lansford and Summit Hill.

“This isn’t a vacation spot where they stay two weeks at Ashton Park,” Bartek said. “We do not have the facilities to have people staying over. We don’t even have a grill down there because some of the people insist on destroying some of the stuff that was there.”

She suggested closing and opening the gates at the entrance at dusk and dawn and possibly reinstalling a gate at the exit.

Soberick told council that the borough has an ordinance and signage, and they should be enforced.

“That is the bottom line,” she said. “Enforce what you have and then build on what you have.”

Bartek again said the ordinance needs to be worked on and she is going to call different cities to see how they have dealt with the problem.

“Lehighton has cleaned their problem out,” she said, noting that they have to watch how they clean, too.

Zym again said he did not see anything posted online about Lehighton’s ordinance dealing with this, but if another community has language to deal with this that the borough may be able to adapt it.

Ordinances need to change and adapt over time, Bartek said, and this is one they need to look at.

“The mayor and the police department condoned those homeless staying in the park,” Soberick said. “So, we already have an ordinance and we already have signage. Why aren’t they enforcing it?

“So, you’re going to redo the ordinance, enhance them, but who’s going to enforce those?” Soberick asked.

Bartek replied, “Hopefully, we have enough officers to enforce the problem. They have got to answer to us.”

Zym asked if the police had discretion when dealing with these issues, and Bartek said one of the officers did “take care of the problem one night.”

Councilman Bruce Markovich cautioned his fellow council members as they move forward with changes.

“Don’t try to make it a crime to be poor and homeless,” he told them. “That’s only going to get us jammed up. Do not make it a crime to be poor and homeless.”

Council President Joe Genits pointed out that there are a lot of discrepancies in the ordinance, such as rules regarding sleeping in the park or recreational area, or vehicles being parked after closing hours.

Markovich pointed out the borough condones parking at the pool lot in the winter but did not know when that was approved by council, and if that was done by resolution or ordinance when Genits questioned the former council president.

Genits suggested the council members from the ordinance and parks and recreation committees get together and start reviewing the ordinance and come up with some amendments.

Zym felt that there should be approvals from council for parking at the pool lot after hours, if that’s for a game or the annual Halloween event, which Bartek organizes.