The county Board of Supervisors Tuesday unanimously approved an evaluation of county-owned sites for use as possible future emergency shelters for homeless people.
According to a statement from Vice Chair Terra Lawson-Remer‘s office, the focus will be on sleeping cabins, safe parking spots, “sprung” or fabric shelters or repurposing existing buildings to help those now living on the streets. County staff members will also seek partners who could provide services at the sites.
In a statement, Lawson-Remer said the board did the right thing by seeking out potential sites.
She noted the county in 2022 opened a shelter on Rosecrans in the city of San Diego’s Midway neighborhood, which is located in her district.
“The locations in my policy have utilities on site, will help to minimize public costs and provide a greater return on our investment in helping the homeless,” she added. Lawson-Remer said her team researched potential existing parcels, along with others for possible consideration.
She added that many sites “are in various stages of planning and approval to support affordable housing construction but may have a window of several years that the site could support an interim use.”
“Homelessness is a crisis affecting people across all our communities and we must consider all available locations,” Lawson-Remer said. “I am confident our county workers will do the required due diligence to include or eliminate potential sites. They will take all factors into consideration.”
Supervisors will review the analysis of county-owned sites in 120 days.
According to the original board letter put forward by Lawson-Remer, four sites were proposed in the San Diego region and one in Escondido.
Several Escondido residents during a public comment period, including Mayor Dane White, said their city should not be considered as a possible site without any notice.
White said he and others aren’t opposed to a homeless shelter in the city, and urged the board to work with them on another location.
“Again, we want to be partners with you,” White said.
Lawson-Remer said she wanted to amend the board letter to include other sites in Escondido, and supported a friendly amendment from her colleague Joel Anderson to remove any site from District 2, which he represents.
Anderson explained that his office has already laid the groundwork to find sites in District 2.
Several people in favor spoke in favor of Lawson-Remer’s proposal. Kim Miller of the nonprofit Lucky Duck Foundation said the county should also pursue additional efforts to shelter people, along with a private/public regional solution.
City News Service contributed to this article.