A proposal to reestablish a ban that restricts people from living in their vehicles on city streets, with the exception of certain designated lots, will face its first hurdle Wednesday.
Mayor Kevin Faulconer last month proposed a new ban on vehicle habitation that would prevent homeless people from staying in their vehicle where overnight parking is not allowed, including outside businesses, near the beach and on city streets.
The ordinance must be approved by the San Diego City Council but first will face the San Diego City Council's Public Safety and Liveable Neighborhoods committee at a Wednesday meeting.
The mayor's proposal came just over a month after city council voted to repeal its 1983 ordinance banning habitation in cars or vehicles on city streets as a result of a federal court ruling which called the ordinance "vague" and overreaching.
Residents near the beaches and bay, however, soon complained that repealing the ordinance opened the doors for more and more car and van dwellers in their neighborhoods.
But the mayor's proposal is criticized by people who, while technically homeless, are financially secure but choose to save money by living in a vehicle.
The ordinance is also criticized for not being different enough from the old law it is meant to replace.
Faulconer's plan includes a "safe parking program" that would designate certain lots in the city that car-dwellers could stay at overnight. The lots would link homeless San Diegans with resources to help get them into more stable, long-term housing through partnerships with other organizations.
Ahead of the committee meeting Wednesday, the city opened one of these safe parking lots at SDCCU Stadium's overflow lot near Friars Road and Mission Village Drive. The space was the third of its kind to open through a partnership with Jewish Family Services.
Faulconer said the proposal was meant to help homelessness in San Diego while not allowing "conduct that takes advantage of San Diego’s generosity and destroys the quality of life in our communities."
