Is a residential neighborhood the right place for a huge homeless center? We are a coalition of residents, teachers, parents and business owners who agree that this location couldn't possibly be worse.

• 200 feet from the National School District Preschool
• 500 feet from Lincoln Acres Elementary
• Residential neighborhood with houses, apartments and condominiums all around the proposed site
• Huge gymnasium dedicated to single men, not just families as advertised

According to the San Diego Union Tribune, the proposed facility aims to draw the homeless from all over National City and bring them to the current site of the South Bay Community Church for drug treatment, showers and storage of belongings. The 8-acre, 170 bed facility will aim be a magnet for the homeless.

We urge city planners and city council to reject this proposed development. A residential neighborhood is the wrong place for a homeless center.

An obvious problem with this location is that the proposed site is on a main walking route for the hundreds of grade school kids and parents who attend the National School District Preschool and Lincoln Acres Elementary School which are across the street, less than 500 feet away. City leadership would be placing one of our most vulnerable and defenseless populations in close proximity to one of our most problematic populations.

Backers assure the public that security will be provided - this is unlikely since the homeless are protected from eviction and harassment by law. Once drawn here the homeless will tend to stay here, on the sidewalks and by roadsides where our kids walk to school.

Diseases tend to proliferate in and around homeless concentrations. Hepatitis, shigellosis and COVID-19 are known, current public health concerns in areas such as downtown where the homeless congregate for services. Have city council and planning bodies considered the possibility of diseases being spread around this residential area by the homeless drawn to this facility? Foot traffic and water runoff will tend to move diseases indiscriminately and over long distances such as into homes and schools. Kids commuting to and from school will be forced to share sidewalks with high-risk homeless who are commuting to and from the shelter.

Additionally, what assurances can be made to check for sex offenders, mentally ill and drug addicts? Crime such as break-ins and trespassing are known to increase around the homeless, not to mention public indecency and violent crime. All of these things are more easily controlled in commercial and industrial districts but can be disastrous in a residential area such as Lincoln Acres.

Lastly, property values of homes and other real estate will certainly be negatively impacted and could easily reach losses of tens of millions of dollars or more for the community. Homeowners looking to sell or refinance will no longer have a neighborhood church or school as neighbors but a massive commercial space dedicated to the indigent. Will prospective buyers and renters want to live in such an area?

Again, is a residential neighborhood the best place for a huge homeless shelter?

Our concerns include:

• Increased homeless presence where young kids walk to school
• Increased disease in our neighborhood such as hepatitis and COVID-19
• Crime increases such as break-ins and trespassing
• Sex offenders, mentally ill and drug addicts next door
• Decreasing property values

Help us to hold city council and project backers responsible for moving the location of this shelter away from schools and residences. We do not oppose services for the homeless but this location would be a clear disaster for the neighborhood and the city. We respectfully propose moving the site to an industrial or commercial area.

Thank you for joining us in opposing the proposed Lincoln Acres homeless center!