Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

National City and Chula Vista ready to enforce camping bans

Now they have enough shelters

"We want them to accept the services and get off the streets."
"We want them to accept the services and get off the streets."

As more cities get tough on homeless living outside, sharpening their codes to keep people from "camping" in public places, others feel forced to do the same to ward off an influx of unhoused visitors.

Escondido passed a camping ban just ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling (Grants Pass) in June that lets cities evict, fine or arrest people for sleeping in public even if there are no shelter beds available. San Marcos passed one in July. And in August, Vista dusted off its 1968 camping ban.  

The proposed law bars camping within 500 feet of schools, city parks, emergency and transitional housing, major transit stops, trolley stops.


San Diego passed a ban last year that some officials say has pushed more unhoused residents into National City and Chula Vista. Now those cities are proposing their own ordinances.

On September 10, the Chula Vista City Council will consider a proposed Encampment Restriction Ordinance that covers sitting, lying, sleeping, or storage on specified public property.

According to a city count, there are fewer unhoused residents in Chula Vista this year compared to last. The current total is 730, down from 786. That aligns with the state mandated Point in Time Count, staff said at a recent meeting of the Housing & Homeless Advisory Commission.

People have moved around. Now they are concentrated mainly on the west side of the city, particularly along the I-5 corridor and transit stations.

"We also saw a reduction in the number in the Otay Regional Park in the south area of our city," said Stacey Kurz, director of housing & homeless ervices.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Park ranger Sam Alzubaidi said the population he most often encounters are older males. Alzubaidi is part of the city's homeless outreach team, which includes Housing & Homeless Services, police, and code enforcement. 

The proposed ordinance prohibits at all times lying, sleeping, and storing personal property if it blocks the disabled from the public right of way, obstructs vehicle or bike paths, or interferes with city events. It bars camping within 500 feet of schools, city parks, emergency and transitional housing, major transit stops, trolley stops at Palomar Street, H Street and E Street, as well as rapid bus service (line 225), and Multiple Species Conservation land, including Otay Valley and Sweetwater regional parks.

The reason for the 500-foot buffer from homeless housing and safe camping and parking is because the city "wants to encourage those locations" and prevent them from becoming "hubs of unregulated activity" — which in turn causes residents to oppose them. 

Lieutenant Ernie Pinedo, a member of the outreach team, said they were asked about having the ban cover every bus and transit stop, but they decided to stick with the more manageable 500 feet. "We don't want to keep pushing them around" from one area to another. "We want them to accept the services and get off the streets."

According to a commission report, only 35 percent of the unhoused accepted services while 65 percent declined.

"There are a lot of misconceptions," said outreach worker Angelica Davis of concerns about barriers that might cause people to turn down shelter. For one, they do allow pets. "As far as drugs, you don't have to be clean to get into the shelter."

And the city isn't one where beds are unavailable. In fact, they no longer have to use their hotel vouchers because the shelter has emergency and transitional housing.

"Do we have enough beds today if everybody was willing and able? Absolutely."

National City, which opened its first homeless shelter in June, is feeling more prepared to join the wave of enforcement targeting the unhoused. On September 3, the city will be the next to introduce a camping ban. 

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Time’s up for Doubletime Recording Studio

Owner Jeff Forrest is trading El Cajon for Portugal
Next Article

Issa aide collaborates with Ukrainians

Carlsbad's Tracy Slepcevic, Warrior Mom, and her ties to RFK, Jr.
"We want them to accept the services and get off the streets."
"We want them to accept the services and get off the streets."

As more cities get tough on homeless living outside, sharpening their codes to keep people from "camping" in public places, others feel forced to do the same to ward off an influx of unhoused visitors.

Escondido passed a camping ban just ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling (Grants Pass) in June that lets cities evict, fine or arrest people for sleeping in public even if there are no shelter beds available. San Marcos passed one in July. And in August, Vista dusted off its 1968 camping ban.  

The proposed law bars camping within 500 feet of schools, city parks, emergency and transitional housing, major transit stops, trolley stops.


San Diego passed a ban last year that some officials say has pushed more unhoused residents into National City and Chula Vista. Now those cities are proposing their own ordinances.

On September 10, the Chula Vista City Council will consider a proposed Encampment Restriction Ordinance that covers sitting, lying, sleeping, or storage on specified public property.

According to a city count, there are fewer unhoused residents in Chula Vista this year compared to last. The current total is 730, down from 786. That aligns with the state mandated Point in Time Count, staff said at a recent meeting of the Housing & Homeless Advisory Commission.

People have moved around. Now they are concentrated mainly on the west side of the city, particularly along the I-5 corridor and transit stations.

"We also saw a reduction in the number in the Otay Regional Park in the south area of our city," said Stacey Kurz, director of housing & homeless ervices.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Park ranger Sam Alzubaidi said the population he most often encounters are older males. Alzubaidi is part of the city's homeless outreach team, which includes Housing & Homeless Services, police, and code enforcement. 

The proposed ordinance prohibits at all times lying, sleeping, and storing personal property if it blocks the disabled from the public right of way, obstructs vehicle or bike paths, or interferes with city events. It bars camping within 500 feet of schools, city parks, emergency and transitional housing, major transit stops, trolley stops at Palomar Street, H Street and E Street, as well as rapid bus service (line 225), and Multiple Species Conservation land, including Otay Valley and Sweetwater regional parks.

The reason for the 500-foot buffer from homeless housing and safe camping and parking is because the city "wants to encourage those locations" and prevent them from becoming "hubs of unregulated activity" — which in turn causes residents to oppose them. 

Lieutenant Ernie Pinedo, a member of the outreach team, said they were asked about having the ban cover every bus and transit stop, but they decided to stick with the more manageable 500 feet. "We don't want to keep pushing them around" from one area to another. "We want them to accept the services and get off the streets."

According to a commission report, only 35 percent of the unhoused accepted services while 65 percent declined.

"There are a lot of misconceptions," said outreach worker Angelica Davis of concerns about barriers that might cause people to turn down shelter. For one, they do allow pets. "As far as drugs, you don't have to be clean to get into the shelter."

And the city isn't one where beds are unavailable. In fact, they no longer have to use their hotel vouchers because the shelter has emergency and transitional housing.

"Do we have enough beds today if everybody was willing and able? Absolutely."

National City, which opened its first homeless shelter in June, is feeling more prepared to join the wave of enforcement targeting the unhoused. On September 3, the city will be the next to introduce a camping ban. 

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Mang Tomas, banana ketchup barred in San Diego

What will happen to Filipino Christmas here?
Next Article

Aaron Bleiweiss: has guitar, has traveled

Seattle native takes Twists and Turns to assemble local all-stars
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader