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Locals Contest Traditional Location of Winter Homeless Shelter

The San Diego city council has postponed for five weeks a decision on where to site this year's winter shelter for the homeless. A temporary shelter has been in Barrio Logan for the last nine years, b

Locals Contest Traditional Location of Winter Homeless Shelter

The San Diego city council has postponed for five weeks a decision on where to site this year's winter shelter for the homeless. A temporary shelter has been in Barrio Logan for the last nine years, but the local community wants it moved.   KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

Dozens of Barrio Logan residents showed up at city hall today to protest the winter shelter tent at 16th and Newton on the edge of downtown. The shelter tent is scheduled to open in November.

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Nine-year-old Arellana Casteneda, who lives nearby, told the city council she and her younger brother Emilio don't feel safe when the shelter is operating. 

Casteneda : Emilio and I saw a homeless man with a knife, that man and the lady that was with him left their trash and the knife under their blankets. I would like you to move the shelter away from Barrio Logan.

The mayor's office came up with two alternatives, one on Midway in Point Loma and the other in the former Navy Hospital parking lot in Balboa Park. Neither of these sites was popular with the council. They voted to postpone a decision till mid October.

Staff from the mayor's office can’t guarantee they'll be able to find anywhere else.

Alison St John, KPBS News.