A proposal before Camden City Council would put a three-month limit on temporary outdoor memorials placed on public property, then let the Department of Public Works take them down.
Angel Fuentes introduced the ordinance, which is not law yet. Council is expected to hold a public hearing and is scheduled to decide afterward whether to approve it, at a meeting listed for 5 p.m. at City Hall, TAPinto Camden reported.
Three Months on Public Ground
The proposed rules would cover public property only. Temporary memorials in the city often commemorate victims of traffic accidents or murders, and the displays can hold photographs, wreaths, religious symbols, flowers, stuffed animals and other memorabilia.
Candles are part of that familiar mix. The proposal would prohibit them, along with other sources of open flames.
The ordinance says memorials should be removed after a proper mourning period so they do not deteriorate or affect neighboring properties. Three months is the line the draft draws. After that, Public Works may remove a temporary memorial.
A Phone Number, and a Private-Property Line
Someone setting up a temporary memorial would have to notify Public Works and provide a telephone number. The draft builds in a contact before a display reaches the removal date.
Private property is treated separately. Owners may remove memorials built on their own property, so the public-property clock, as reported, would not govern a display on private land.
Keeping a Memorial Up to a Year
The person who sets up a memorial may ask Public Works for an extension of up to one year. That extra time would require support from at least 51 percent of residents. The petition would also need signatures from property owners and renters living within 200 feet of the memorial.
Renters are in that circle, not only people who hold title. Without the stated support and those nearby signatures, the draft leaves removal at three months, with Public Works authorized to take the memorial down.
A Longer Clock Than the 2019 Proposal
Camden has weighed a version of this question before, on a much shorter timeline. In 2019, City Council took no action on a proposal that would have required makeshift memorials to homicide and traffic victims to be removed after 15 days, The Inquirer reported.
The measure now in front of council uses three months as the baseline and allows a possible extension to a year. The 2019 decision was to leave the question alone. This time, council is scheduled to decide after the hearing.
How Other Cities Have Set the Clock
Reported limits elsewhere run from 30 days to a year. Those rules also say memorials must be removed immediately if they become a hazard or a distraction to drivers, The Sacramento Bee reported in September 2024.
Roseville, California, considered limiting roadside memorials on public property to no more than 45 days from the date of the memorialized incident. Officials there framed the idea as a balance between a reasonable chance to express grief and condolences after a tragedy and the need to maintain public spaces, reduce road hazards and emphasize safety. Roseville's code now says temporary memorials on public property shall be allowed to remain for no more than 45 days, and it limits their dimensions, according to the city code.
Milwaukee has regulated memorials since 2006. Displays are allowed to stay for 30 days before public works employees may remove them, an earlier Inquirer report noted.
Camden's draft, as described, rests on deterioration and effects on neighboring properties, and it adds the open-flame ban and the notice requirement. If council approves it after the hearing, a public memorial of flowers and photographs would have three months unless Public Works grants more time. The listed setting for that hearing, and for the decision that follows, is a 5 p.m. meeting at City Hall.
