"We want them to accept the services and get off the streets."

As more cities get tough on homeless living outside, sharpening their codes to keep people from "camping" in public places, others feel forced to do the same to ward off an influx of unhoused visitors.

Escondido passed a camping ban just ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling (Grants Pass) in June that lets cities evict, fine or arrest people for sleeping in public even if there are no shelter beds available. San Marcos passed one in July. And in August, Vista dusted off its 1968 camping ban.  

The proposed law bars camping within 500 feet of schools, city parks, emergency and transitional housing, major transit stops, trolley stops.

San Diego passed a ban last year that some officials say has pushed more unhoused residents into National City and Chula Vista. Now those cities are proposing their own ordinances.

On September 10, the Chula Vista City Council will consider a proposed Encampment Restriction Ordinance that covers sitting, lying, sleeping, or storage on specified public property.

According to a city count, there are fewer unhoused residents in Chula Vista this year compared to last. The current total is 730, down from 786. That aligns with the state mandated Point in Time Count, staff said at a recent meeting of the Housing & Homeless Advisory Commission.

People have moved around. Now they are concentrated mainly on the west side of the city, particularly along the I-5 corridor and transit stations.

"We also saw a reduction in the number in the Otay Regional Park in the south area of our city," said Stacey Kurz, director of housing & homeless ervices.

Park ranger Sam Alzubaidi said the population he most often encounters are older males. Alzubaidi is part of the city's homeless outreach team, which includes Housing & Homeless Services, police, and code enforcement. 

The proposed ordinance prohibits at all times lying, sleeping, and storing personal property if it blocks the disabled from the public right of way, obstructs vehicle or bike paths, or interferes with city events. It bars camping within 500 feet of schools, city parks, emergency and transitional housing, major transit stops, trolley stops at Palomar Street, H Street and E Street, as well as rapid bus service (line 225), and Multiple Species Conservation land, including Otay Valley and Sweetwater regional parks.

The reason for the 500-foot buffer from homeless housing and safe camping and parking is because the city "wants to encourage those locations" and prevent them from becoming "hubs of unregulated activity" — which in turn causes residents to oppose them. 

Lieutenant Ernie Pinedo, a member of the outreach team, said they were asked about having the ban cover every bus and transit stop, but they decided to stick with the more manageable 500 feet. "We don't want to keep pushing them around" from one area to another. "We want them to accept the services and get off the streets."

According to a commission report, only 35 percent of the unhoused accepted services while 65 percent declined.

"There are a lot of misconceptions," said outreach worker Angelica Davis of concerns about barriers that might cause people to turn down shelter. For one, they do allow pets. "As far as drugs, you don't have to be clean to get into the shelter."

And the city isn't one where beds are unavailable. In fact, they no longer have to use their hotel vouchers because the shelter has emergency and transitional housing.

"Do we have enough beds today if everybody was willing and able? Absolutely."

National City, which opened its first homeless shelter in June, is feeling more prepared to join the wave of enforcement targeting the unhoused. On September 3, the city will be the next to introduce a camping ban.