The Halifax municipality is creating a code of conduct for people living at designated encampments and the people around them.

The city is not revealing any details about the rules because the city is still developing them.

Some rules could include general guidelines around “being a good neighbour, such as observing the noise by-law and helping to manage garbage and waste,” according to an email from city spokesperson Jake Fulton.

Fulton said city staff are still developing the rules and they plan to talk to people sleeping rough or experiencing homelessness at designated tent sites.

A staff report from June 4 recommended the city look at implementing a code of conduct.

Halifax is in the middle of a housing crisis with a vacancy rate of less than 1 per cent. The report says the By Name List of people experiencing homelessness has been growing at a rate of 4 per cent a month, totaling 1,257 people as of May 28, 2024.

The city recently designated nine new tent sites to help the growing population of people sleeping rough.

But the June 4 report says one of the issues with designating tent sites is “the behaviour exhibited by those staying in them and those around them.”

But if the city creates a code of conduct, the problem is someone has to enforce that, and there have to be consequences for breaking the code of conduct, the report says.

The report also says city staff can develop a code of conduct “within a reasonably sort period of time” if they have resources to support it.