An ordinance banning homeless encampments on city of San Diego sidewalks, canyons and other public places is one step closer to law after passing a council committee vote Thursday night.
The full council will now consider the ordinance proposed by District 3 Councilman Stephen Whitburn, whose district covers Downtown and the Mission Valley riverbed. It aims to empower police to rid sidewalks of encampments if there are shelter resources available for those displaced. Shelter space doesn't need to be available if officers are moving encampments away from schools or public parks.
The ordinance passed a vote Thursday night from the Land Use and Housing Committee, but not without blowback from citizens, homeless advocates and even fellow councilmembers.
"It's not safe here. People pee, poop in public, they shoot up, they smoke crack pipes, the build crack pipes," one San Diegan said during the public comment portion of the meeting.
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
"Little Italy is under siege by the homeless. We have people coming and taking food off people's plates," another added.
Others painted the ordinance as racist, or an undeliverable bill of goods.
"We are not addressing with the disaster aid we need," volunteer homeless advocate Janis Wilds said. "This is a disaster. It's a humanitarian disaster and we should be treating it as such."
Local
The Land Use and Housing Committee voted 3-1 in favor of the ordinance, moving it before the full nine-member city council, but the vote split doesn't illustrate all the division among the council heard Thursday night.
"It remains unclear to me how we would implement or enforce this ordinance and how we would address many of the questions and concerns that have been brought forward," said District 6 Councilman Kent Lee, the lone dissenting vote.
Councilwoman Vivian Moreno from District 8 voted in favor of the ordinance, but not before amending it to allow for enforcement at all public parks, instead of some, as the original ordinance read. She also called for a written enforcement plan, expanded emergency shelters and safe camping areas.
San Diego's sidewalk sleeping crisis reached an all-time high in January, with nearly 2,000 people living without shelter, according to the Downtown Partnership’s monthly count. Though that number dropped to about 1,700 in March, over time it's spawned a number of public health and safety issues.
"The stuff going on on these streets is unacceptable. We provide public bathrooms but people still defecate on the sidewalk. Let me be clear: not in my city," Mayor Todd Gloria said.
Friday morning, Gloria is unveiling his Fiscal Year 2023 budget during a news conference at the Rose Canyon Operations Yard, the site of the city's newest safe parking lot.
Gloria said he expects city council to approve the ordinance by mid-summer.
