San Diego police are preparing to clear more streets where people sleep in parked vehicles now that the city’s close to opening a new lot for homeless residents.
A court settlement says anyone spending the night in their car shouldn’t be punished if there’s nowhere else to go, and San Diego’s existing safe parking projects are generally packed. Yet with the number of spots citywide set to nearly double at H Barracks, a large property next to the airport, police leaders are updating their training and preparing to hand out flyers about the site.
“We’ll do education first,” Capt. Steve Shebloski, head of the Neighborhood Policing Division, said Thursday. “My goal is to not give out a single ticket.”
Boosted enforcement could especially affect those in RVs.
San Diego’s other safe parking lots are mainly for cars, trucks or SUVs, but H Barracks comes with around 110 spots for oversized vehicles. Officials said that added capacity should ultimately reduce the number of RVs currently spread throughout Mission Bay, Ocean Beach and parks like Robb Athletic Field.
“Today marks a major milestone in our battle against homelessness,” Mayor Todd Gloria said Friday during a press conference at H Barracks.
The milestone almost didn’t happen. While the city has already spent millions of dollars on the lot — old H-shaped Navy barracks had to be torn down, new concrete needed to be poured — it was an open question until very recently whether the project would succeed.
Some neighbors have raised concerns about how the presence of hundreds of homeless people might affect the shops and schools in nearby Liberty Station, and a press conference last year at the property was nearly drowned out by a small crowd of protestors. Critics were especially concerned that the parking lot might eventually be replaced by massive tents that could collectively hold around 600 individuals, likely making H Barracks the largest shelter in the city, and a real estate developer sued to block the effort.
San Diego leaders have since pledged to not set up any tents and a judge on Wednesday gave the green light for the parking spaces to open later this month.
However, that decision may change early next year when the case goes to trial. Superior Court Judge Gregory W. Pollack has publicly said that longstanding agreements governing how the land can be used may, in fact, restrict homelessness services in the area, and he’s asked the city and developer to find a compromise.
In other words, H Barracks is only guaranteed the next nine months.
Officials hope to make the most of that time. At least 80 households with RVs have already expressed interest in the lot and every space is expected to be filled within 8 to 10 weeks, according to leaders of Jewish Family Service, the nonprofit in charge. (H Barracks’ exact start date has yet to be determined.)
A few items remain on the to-do list. Showers and bathrooms must be installed. Concrete blocks holding up solar-powered lights are still being painted. And staffers continue to discuss how to keep seagulls off those solar s.
Several birds could be seen resting atop the lights on Friday, which has created a three-fold problem: Poop on the ground, potential damage to the s and, if enough seagulls were to gather, the chance that a flock might endanger a departing plane. Officials said they’re looking into several solutions, including attaching spikes by the lights.
The site should be open each night from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. Having a criminal record is not necessarily a deal breaker for sleeping on the property, although nonprofit staffers said they’d vet all participants. Sex offenders are not allowed.
Over the past seven years, Jewish Family Service has reported serving about 4,500 people across multiple safe parking lots, including around 650 children. A majority had some form of income and approximately 2,000 individuals have so far been connected to housing.
“Sleeping and living out of your car really takes a toll,” Nathan Watkins, a member of the Midway-Pacific Highway Community Planning Group, said at Friday’s press event. He added that a close friend had just last year ended up in their vehicle despite working two jobs. “You’re really vulnerable out there — and it’s also tough on our neighborhoods.”
Regardless of what happens with the developer’s lawsuit, the H Barracks lot will end in 2029 when the land is taken over by San Diego’s Pure Water recycling system.
