A bill that would bar people from storing furniture, clothing and other personal property in public areas such as sidewalks and parks faces one final vote before the City Council next month.

Bill 54 is expected to come up for final reading at the last Council meeting of the year on Dec. 7. It advanced Thursday out of the Safety, Economic Development and Government Affairs Committee.

Members have largely supported the bill, with only Councilman Nestor Garcia consistently voting in opposition, calling it a back-ended approach to dealing with the homeless population.

Under Bill 54, people found in violation would be given a written notice and 24 hours to remove their property. After that the property would be impounded, and owners would have 30 days to recover it before it is discarded.

Councilman Romy Cachola has supported the measure so far but indicated Thursday he might not do so on final reading if the city cannot produce a financial analysis of what the bill might cost.

"It has a lot of steps," Cachola said. "Every step costs a lot of money."

The city administration has defended the bill as necessary to establish a standard process to deal with items left in public spaces, including items kept in parks by homeless people. No criminal citation would be issued, and the city aims to get voluntary compliance from people whose property is found at those sites.