The city of San Diego has been issuing citations to people living in their cars and RVs in an effort to move them to one of the city’s safe parking sites. But people living in their vehicles are fighting back.
How we got here
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria spent a year trying to turn the H Barracks site near the airport into a campus of homeless services.
The abandoned military training facility seemed appealing because the city owned the land, and the campus would just be temporary. It would provide a safe place to stay as the city cracked down on encampments.
Gloria worked with concerned neighbors and litigious landowners who opposed the plan. And the mayor finally succeeded with the opening of H Barracks last year, offering nearly 200 spaces for people living in their vehicles.
Then the city began a major crackdown on vehicle habitation, especially near Mission Bay. Last year, between July and September, the city issued more than 1,000 citations and referred 245 people to H Barracks. But only 59 of them went to the safe parking lot.
What’s next
Now, the city is being taken to court. Plaintiffs who received tickets said the city is violating a 2024 settlement.
Under the agreement, the city said it would not issue citations unless it offered easily accessible and “reasonably available” alternative sites for people to park and stay in their vehicles.
The plaintiffs claim H Barracks is not a reasonable alternative. They have to leave each morning, which costs money, and they said it’s too hard to pack everything up each day, moving in and out.
The city disagrees, but now it’s up to a judge to resolve. If he agrees with the plaintiffs, people will be allowed to stay in their cars indefinitely in Mission Bay and other areas until the city has a better alternative for them.
