NBC 7’s Dave Summers explains why families say it’s causing more than just parking problems.
There are growing concerns about the number of people sleeping in their cars and recreational vehicles at a park in Ocean Beach.
According to the rules posted at Robb Field, camping is prohibited and no one is allowed to stay overnight.
Robb Field has been home to the Peninsula Youth Softball Association for a long time, but parents say they are facing a greater challenge — and it has little to do with softball skills.
“If you look left and you look right, there are tons of vans and tons of RVs. They’re taking over,” parent Laura Pollan said.
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Parents complain about the trash, alcohol and drug use among the homeless community in the park.
“We cannot even allow our daughters to go to the bathroom alone. There are people in the stalls doing, we’re not sure,” parent Alex Reynolds said.
“We always send people in groups, if not with parents, and kids go with a bat, which is crazy to say,” coach Miles Doughty said.
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League parents say 400 children each week come to the park to play. The park is also home to a youth soccer league and many other visitors with pets and children.
Greater San Diego leadership may be laser-focused on the problems associated with homelessness, but parents say the number of people living in their cars, vans and RVs in the parking lot have only increased.
“It’s just gotten worse over time. Something has got to be done,” Pollan said.
Parking is also a problem. Oftentimes visitors say they come when it is busy and there are no open spaces because of all the RVs. They’ll risk a ticket to park in the grassy areas between parking stalls, while getting a ticket for camping or parking during restricted hours seems even more rare.
Chad Might is a substitute teacher and nature photographer. He lives in his RV at the park and has gotten one ticket in eight months.
“A lot of us choose to do this, like myself. We keep it nice and clean. Very respectful to the residents,” Might said.
Amy Slay, who lives in her van with two large dogs, says she’s never been ticketed.
“A lot of us out here are being forced to live like this. This isn’t by choice,” Slay said.
Parents say they are encouraged to work through San Diego’s complaint portal: the Get It Done app.
“We’ve been instructed to send pictures and write letters so that’s all been kind of a collaborative effort,” Reynolds said.
If it were a game of hits, runs and errors, so far, there are no winners.
NBC 7 reached out to the San Diego Police Department about enforcement policies at the park but did not hear back yet.
