San Diego leaders think these sites could potentially be homeless shelters (original) (raw)

Soon after a marathon public hearing in July, when members of the San Diego City Council expressed deep reservations about turning an empty warehouse into one of the nation’s largest shelters, the head of the homelessness strategies and solutions department sent them all a letter.

If they had other ideas, Sarah Jarman wrote, please share.

At least six of the nine council members have since responded with suggestions ranging from a gym by Balboa Park to a Pacific Beach motel, according to documents obtained through a public records request.

City spokesperson Matt Hoffman said the new sites were now “under review” and would be included in a Sept. 24 presentation before the council about the state of San Diego’s overtaxed shelter system.

Decisions need to be made soon. The city is set to lose access to more than 700 shelter beds by January — some existing locations are slated for new development while others have expiring permits — and homelessness countywide only seems to be going up.

Hoffman added that San Diego planned to soon release a formal Request For Information to see if other area property owners had buildings to offer.

It’s not yet clear when the council might consider a revised lease for the Middletown warehouse, by Kettner Boulevard and Vine Street, which could potentially hold 1,000 beds.

The trailer park

Councilmember Joe LaCava offered one of the longest lists of potential sites throughout a district covering northern coastal areas.

In Pacific Beach, Motel San Diego and land by 4780 Mission Bay Drive could potentially offer both shelter and safe parking, the council member wrote. The site was even up for lease.

Other nearby locations were not on the market, but had potential, including a building at 4433 Mission Bay Drive, the neighboring lot by 4471 Mission Bay Drive as well as a former car dealership at 2923 Bunker Hill Street, LaCava said. He stressed that each location had not been fully vetted and both owners and neighbors would eventually have to be consulted.

As far as city sites went, LaCava suggested the former De Anza Trailer Park, which he said is already occupied by homeless families in RV’s.

The council member was opposed, however, to using libraries as places for people to sleep in their vehicles.

An even bigger warehouse

Raul Campillo said one Mission Valley lot, at 7650 Mission Valley Road, could potentially offer safe parking after hours.

He further asked officials to consider leasing 5260 Anna Ave., a 72,000-square-foot warehouse in the Morena neighborhood. (In comparison, the Middletown warehouse is about 65,000 square feet.) Even if the Anna Avenue site couldn’t become a permanent shelter, the structure could temporarily host some needed beds, Campillo wrote.

A city gym

Council President Sean Elo-Rivera wasn’t convinced that finding suitable sites was his job.

While the request for locations was “outside the scope of Council power and capacity,” he wrote, “I have chosen to respond in the spirit of collaboration and shared responsibility.”

Elo-Rivera said the Balboa Park Activity Center, a gym previously used as an emergency shelter, could again host those with nowhere else to go, but he otherwise avoided specifics. “I am withholding addresses so as not to undermine the City’s negotiating position, but will gladly share addresses in direct conversation,” the council president wrote to the head of the homelessness solutions department.

Elo-Rivera also asked officials to survey more residents of existing shelters to see who could potentially move in with relatives and expressed support for a proposal to use the now-defunct Central Elementary School campus in City Heights as a safe parking lot, among other suggestions.

He again pushed the mayor’s office to consider forcibly seizing suitable properties through eminent domain, an option that city staffers have so far rejected as too time consuming.

The library

Other council members did not identify new sites in their memos.

Marni von Wilpert wrote that there were several options in her district, which covers inland areas throughout northern San Diego, but she wanted to discuss them in person. Jennifer Campbell mainly expressed openness to leasing the warehouse at Kettner and Vine.

Stephen Whitburn pushed for the city to redevelop downtown’s Old Central Library as a shelter and affordable housing complex.

San Diego has intermittently used that building as a facility for homeless women, although permit limits have kept it from being open year-round and a plan to eventually build a 40-story, 400-unit affordable housing complex could cost $370 million.

Hotel rooms

In addition to council members, city officials asked San Diego’s Independent Budget Analyst for potential shelter sites.

The head of that department, Charles Modica, wrote that his office “is neither staffed nor resourced to provide ongoing real estate searches,” especially since he and others only had about a week to respond.

Nonetheless, Modica reached out to their real estate consultant, Kosmont Companies, to come up with a list. The resulting suggestions included 26 rooms in Hotel Metro, at 4017 42nd St., the C Street Inn’s 100 rooms by 636 C St. and 20 rooms within Hotel GiGi, by 547 9th Ave.

Several industrial sites were also identified, including buildings at 7520 Mission Valley Road, 3939 Market St., 789 Gateway Center Way and 9606 Aero Drive in addition to the Morena warehouse previously suggested by Campillo.