Ruling: East Central bookstore must remove encampment or face hefty fine

A hearing officer ruled that Quirky Used Books must remove a homeless encampment from its parking lot in two weeks or pay a fine of $1,500 to the city of Albuquerque.

In the written ruling issued Thursday, City Hearing Officer Ripley Harwood stated he would only impose fines tied to one of several ordinance violations brought against the bookstore, that which prohibits camping on public property, including the use of tents.

Harwood dismissed the other violations, which involved weeds and litter and outdoor storage.

The dispute dates back to July 2024, when Quirky Used Books began allowing 18 unhoused people with 12 tents to stay in the store’s back parking lot at 120 Jefferson NE, just north of Central. After the city received various 311 complaints — at least one from a neighboring business — Code Enforcement issued the violations, leading to an administrative hearing on Monday.

Gillam Kerley, owner of Quirky Used Books, said he was “disappointed” the hearing officer could not rule on whether the violations aligned with the New Mexico Constitution. Harwood said, in his decision, that he considered constitutional arguments “to be outside the scope of my review.”

In his ruling, Harwood said the case is not about the rights or risks of homeless people occupying public property, but rather “a case about the limits of the rights of private property owners to the allowable uses of their property.”

Kerley said he will be seeking a stay on the enforcement of the ruling pending an appeal to the 2nd Judicial District Court.

He said they were appealing to get a ruling “on whether the New Mexico Constitution’s right to seek and obtain safety and the right to preserve one’s property essentially outweigh the language of the zoning code.” The bookstore owner added that he does not expect the decision to be reversed during the appeal.

The city was pleased with the ruling.

“We’re happy with the decision because it moves Quirky Books towards remediation, which is what we always wanted,” said Tim Walsh, public information coordinator for the city of Albuquerque Planning Department. “We just want them to come into compliance and hopefully this will get them there.”

The city plans to stay in contact with the bookstore to ensure they come into compliance. Code Enforcement has another hearing pending with Quirky Used Books over similar violations, but said they will drop the case if Quirky Used Books comes into compliance in the next two weeks. A hearing on that matter has not been scheduled yet.

Kerley said he was glad the hearing officer did not agree with a majority of the proposed violations, including the accusation of litter and filth in the parking lot.

In his ruling, Harwood left a glowing review of Kerley’s character, calling him an “altruistic idealist.”

“Were the world full of idealists such as Gillam Kerley, humanity would likely solve the broad-based societal problems without the need for the blunt instrument of government,” Harwood wrote. “The reality is that Quirky Books cannot solve the enormous public problem of the homelessness and in trying to do so, they have merely caused other harms. The homeless problem is for governments to solve.”

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