Over the last several years, the governing body of the city of Oceanside in Southern California has sought funding and community input in order to address the issues of homelessness.

Through Measure X, the American Rescue Act, and tax payer money, the city has implemented some services for people experiencing homelessness. While these services may be helpful for some, the current housing services are not long-term and the shelter and permanent housing projects that the city council has passed will not be ready for years. The current actions in place are not timely enough nor helpful for all unhoused people, particularly those new to experiencing homlessness.

With people losing jobs due to the ongoing Covid-19 Pandemic, the housing crisis, and the unequal distribution of wealth, many people have found themselves newly without a house and have resorted to living in a vehicle. Unfortunately, the parking laws in Oceanside and in the county of San Diego have made it difficult-to-impossible for individuals and families living in their vehicles to find safe places to park overnight without getting tickets by parking enforcement. The more citations given will ultimately lead to people losing their vehicles. The loss of a vehicle is one of the final steps to experiencing chronic homelessness.

Therefore, we urge Mayor Esther Sanchez and the city council members of Oceanside to immediately install safe parking lots in Oceanside for people that are living in their vehicles, including for those living in oversize vehicles like RVs and campers. Safe lots are a less expensive and quicker solution to aiding those experiencing homelessness rather than waiting for years for the city to build housing that will, at most, house about 120 people at a time. Safe lots can be an accessibility implemented now.

In the last month there have been at least two tragedies in Oceanside that affected people living in their RVs. One, in early-to-mid July of 2021 a family of three, including a teenage son, had a part of a tree they were parked underneath fall on their RV, damaging the exterior, interior, and rendering it unable to operate. Rather than receiving assistance from the city, the family was given a ticket for an expired registration and given 12 hours to move the vehicle or it would be towed. Then, on August 2nd 2021, an RV that was parked at a Lowes off Old Grove caught fire and killed both the mother and son who lived in it. Both of these tragedies could have been avoided if these families were able to park in a safe lot where they could receive services without having the added daily stress and figuring out where to park and sleep every night.

By providing supportive services and a safe place to park for families and individuals who are living in their vehicles, safe lots will save lives

Examples of existing Safe Lots in California

Mountain View

https://www.mountainview.gov/depts/comdev/preservation/safe_parking_program.asp

Santa Barbara

https://sbnbcc.org/safe-parking/

San Diego and Encinitas

https://www.jfssd.org/our-services/adults-families/safe-parking-program/

With Oceanside being the biggest city in San Diego and with our homeless numbers on the rise, its time we take action and urge our council members to take an approach of true compassion and implement structures that will help our neighbors NOW. Thank you for taking the time to read and please share �