The soon-to-open safe parking lot at the H Barracks, near San Diego International Airport, could help turn the tide on the parking concerns since it helps double the number of spaces available.
The caravan of people living in cars and RVs along Mission Bay and in some other coastal communities isn’t the waterfront view some visitors are looking to see.
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“It’s an eyesore," exclaimed Theresa Yimenez, who bikes at Mission Bay.
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SIGN UP “There's a lot of trash polluting social areas and a lot of crime," Pamela Yarberry said.
About 110 of the safe parking lots' 190 spaces will be for oversized vehicles. That means RVs parking on the streets or beach-area lots, where it's marked illegal during certain hours, may soon have to move.
“We see a lot of people out here, the rules just don’t apply to them. It feels unfair we can’t park on the bayfront and live rent free," Yarberry said.
With the addition of the new H Barracks lot, police say it will allow for more enforcement, noting that officers are ramping up education ahead of the sites opening later this month.
"They have rules,” said Doug Higgins, who is part of the legal settlement that doesn't allow people spending the night in their cars to be punished if there’s nowhere for them to go.
The H Barracks lot is set to nearly double the space available citywide. But Higgins and his parking lot neighbor at Mission Bay, who's a retired engineer, say they're not going — even though RV living is all they can now afford.
“I used to pay rent. I finally realized that it's much more affordable to do this," Rocky Wood said.
“I’ve been doing this too long. I enjoy this,” Higgins said.
That sentiment is fueling concerns from some that even as the city builds the lots, those who may need them won’t come.
“It may help. I’ve kind of lost hope, to be honest. Maybe some will be influenced to go there,” Denny Knox said.
