Spring Valley residents gathered on Jamacha Road to speak out against a proposed plan to build sleeping cabins for homeless people in their community.
“Listen to us, listen to us, listen to the people,” resident Angelica Camargo said.
In 2024, the San Diego County Supervisors approved in a 4-0 vote the construction of sleeping cabins in the Spring Valley community and to develop a recreational vehicle site in an unincorporated area near Lakeside.
According to the plan, 150 cabins will be built at 8534 Jamacha Road, near State Route 125, on land the county will lease from the California State Department of Transportation.
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County Supervisors approved spending $4.9 million for the RV site and $18.5 million for the sleeping cabins. American Rescue Plan Act money will pay for construction costs for both projects, officials said.
County Supervisors also voted to accept $10 million in state funding to help pay for the sleeping cabins.
“There’s a lot of vacant areas, a lot of vacant spots that we can get them moved to. Having them right in a community, right in front of houses and schools, it’s scary for the people that live right in front of them,” Spring Valley resident Marisela Baldivia said.
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A 2023 point-in-time count found that 10,264 people were living on the streets or in shelters in San Diego County on one night, with an estimated 200 people experiencing homelessness in the county's unincorporated areas.
“For years, the county had not invested in creating new shelter space, but we're changing that by aggressively working to address the homelessness crisis," Vice Chair of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors Terra Lawson-Remer’s office said in a statement shortly after the plan was approved.
People at Saturday’s rally said they will continue to speak out if the plan moves ahead.
