A judge has given San Diego at least a temporary green light to launch another safe parking lot for hundreds of homeless residents, a victory for city officials trying to expand the region’s packed shelter system.
Superior Court Judge Gregory W. Pollack decided on Wednesday that almost 200 parking spots could open up next month on an empty plot next to the airport. The case isn’t over, however, and is scheduled to go to trial early next year.
A real estate developer had sued to block the so-called H Barracks project on the grounds that offering homelessness services in that area might hurt two nearby hotels and a third on the way.
The judge was torn over which side had the better legal argument but said it would be “obscene” to leave the site vacant until the Feb. 9 trial. “This is a close case on the merits,” Pollack added during Wednesday’s two-hour hearing. But “when you balance the hardships, it’s not a close case at all.”
He implored the city and developer to find a compromise.
“Today’s ruling is a win for all San Diegans,” Mayor Todd Gloria said in a statement. “Not only is Safe Parking our most successful homelessness intervention; it also addresses the region’s fastest-growing segment of unhoused people.”
Homelessness in San Diego County has risen repeatedly for years and there are nowhere near enough shelter beds for everybody asking for help. Local leaders are working to open more traditional facilities — a pair of new shelters downtown have been reserved for women, children and young adults — while also eyeing the 7-acre H Barracks property as a place to almost double the number of spots citywide where homeless people may sleep in their vehicles.
The California Coastal Commission gave the thumbs up. So did the San Diego City Council, which hired Jewish Family Service to run the site. Officials have already demolished the H-shaped Navy barracks that once occupied the land and have been installing trailers and lights to 190 cars and RVs. A street-sweeping truck could be seen driving across the paved lot on Wednesday morning.
The city has so far spent about $9.4 million on the effort, according to court records.
All the while, some neighbors have worried about how the project might affect the schools and shops in nearby Liberty Station. McMillin-NTC, a company tied to the same group that transformed Liberty Station into a thriving cultural hub, sued both the city and coastal commission in September.
The developer argued that decades-old agreements governing how the land can be used prohibited any type of shelter on site. Plus, the group is trying to build a 247-room hotel a short walk away. Will lenders raise their rates if families are huddled up in truck beds just down the road? Even if the hotel’s successfully built, the city might lose out on tax revenue if fewer tourists book rooms, McMillin Chairman Scott McMillin has said. A Hampton Inn & Suites and a TownePlace Suites by Marriott sit next to the lot.
In a statement sent by a spokesperson, McMillin said he was “disappointed” by the judge’s decision but glad that “our case will continue to move forward.”
“Our objective has always been to collaborate with the City on solutions that address homelessness while preserving the integrity and long-term vision of Liberty Station,” McMillin added.
The two sides went back and forth for months before the lawsuit was filed, records show.
One sticking point had been the possibility that the safe parking lot might someday be replaced by a different type of shelter. The state Coastal Commission gave San Diego permission to later set up two large tents on the land that together could hold around 600 people, which would likely make H Barracks the largest homelessness facility in the city.
That part of the project was always a long shot: San Diego faces a large budget deficit and any shelter in the area will have to be scrapped by the end of the decade to make way for San Diego’s massive Pure Water recycling system.
Nonetheless, in recent weeks the city formally took that option off the table.
In addition, McMillin representatives previously noted that they might be able to live with a safe parking lot if the city offered something in return, like longer hotel leases. That could offset any “loss in value” to the properties, one email said.
San Diego officials balked at that proposal. Elected leaders have argued that safe parking is allowed on the land and a lack of places for homeless people to go is the bigger threat to the economy, to say nothing of the public safety risks.
The judge was visibly moved by the potential to aid vulnerable children and adults, and that influenced his decision to deny McMillin’s request for a preliminary injunction, which would have halted the project until trial. But Pollack cautioned that H Barracks could still be shut down if he later found the lot to be illegal.
Construction has already started on McMillin’s new hotel. An excavator pulled up huge piles of dirt on Wednesday morning as a skid loader trundled by. The developer said the facility should open in 2027, meaning the hotel might overlap with a safe parking lot for about two years.
