SAN DIEGO — One day after the San Diego city council passed a controversial homeless encampment ban, Mayor Todd Gloria announced that the first of two planned safe sleeping sites will be open and fully operational by June 29 - two days earlier than expected.
According to Mayor Gloria, the Golden Hill site located at the City's Central Operations Site will have space for 136 tents with each tent capacle of accommodating two people. Pets would be allowed to stay at these sites as well. He said resources would be made available for basic amenities like bathrooms, food, and social services.
The site will include 24-hour security. People would be transported to the site by a referring agency, which includes People Assisting the Homeless (PATH) or the San Diego Police Department.
“The Safe Sleeping program is more than just a safe place to sleep; it’s a place for people experiencing homelessness to be connected to the services they need to get back on their feet and to put them on a path toward permanent housing,” said Mayor Gloria. “The quickness with which we’ve stood up this site should be the standard for a crisis this urgent and underscores my pursuit of measures to cut bureaucratic red tape and speed our response to homelessness.”
This is the first of two planned Safe Sleeping places, and it will be operated by Dreams for Change.
The second will be located in Balboa Park, at Lot "O" near the Naval Hospital, and can accommodate about 400 tents.
In regard to the encampment ban, the tents will count as available beds. When the encampment ban goes into effect at the end of July, available tents will be considered the same as a shelter bed and any unhoused person will be in violation of the ordinance if they refuse a tent.
According to a June 13 city report, the city funds 1,784 emergency shelter beds, but 930 or so of those will be eliminated because the locations are slated for closure over the course of the coming year.
However, Mayor Gloria touted the soon-to-be-operational Barrio Logan family shelter that will have room for more than 160 people.
In some areas, near schools, homeless shelters, or in parks, canyons, and beaches, encampments would not be allowed at any time, regardless of shelter capacity.
The San Diego City Council officially passed the homeless encampment ban on June 27 and it is set to take effect on July 30th.
The Unsafe Camping Ordinance makes tent encampments illegal in certain public areas if shelter beds are available.