Golden Hill Citizen Asks City to Enforce Vagrancy Laws

“The place down there reeks,” Norman Starr told the San Diego City Council on March 22. “It’s frightening to walk among that many panhandlers.”

Starr described an area occupied by homeless people near his rental properties located on 19th Avenue (between B and C street), adjacent to the Interstate 5 underpass. He requested that the City enforce its vagrancy laws near his buildings, which he claimed to have renovated and rebuilt with a lot of money and care. He said the situation is not ideal for the homeless or the community.

“At the moment, the homeless folks that are living under the bridge — they defecate on the property and urinate in public,” said Starr. “The police are unable to do anything about it.”

According to Starr, his tenants — some of whom attend nearby City College — enjoy walking downtown. However, he added that the bad odor and the large homeless population around the area makes walking toward downtown “difficult.”