The Encinitas City Council voted Wednesday to move forward with two proposals related to homelessness.
Those proposals would expand the city’s bans on camping outdoors or sleeping in vehicles overnight. The first proposal struck the words “at night” from the city’s ordinance, banning camping on private property to cover daytime camping.
The other proposal expands the city’s ban on sleeping in cars from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Previously, the ban was in effect from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Council member Jim O’Hara put forth the proposals. He said they were meant to help sheriff's deputies better enforce ordinances that are already on the books.
“All we're doing is we're taking an ordinance that already exists, and we're making it so they can use it," he said. "They don't need a diamond-head screwdriver. They need a flathead. And we're giving them the flathead screwdriver.”
Encinitas resident Beth Whitaker criticized the proposals during Wednesday's council meeting. "These proposals may look good on paper, sound impressive on the morning news, and offer ego-stroking soundbites," she said, "but they do nothing to address the root causes of homelessness, economic inequity and hardship, or community safety."
According to the latest Point-in-Time Count, homelessness in Encinitas dropped by 12% from last year. That's a sharp contrast to 2024, when homelessness in the city jumped 67% from the previous year. Regionwide, homelessness dropped 7% last year.
A third proposal, also by O'Hara, would have expanded the city's ban on recreational vehicle (RV) parking overnight on city streets from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. The current restriction is from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. It would also revise the ordinance to clarify that RVs include trailers, campers, motorhomes and vans.
The council ultimately voted to table this item.
Staff will now draft the ordinance and bring it back to the council for approval at a later date.
