Amid public outrage, Irvine and Laguna Niguel on Tuesday, March 20, each voted to sue the county and Huntington Beach officials opted to explore legal options of their own to shut down a plan approved a day earlier by the Orange County Board of Supervisors to erect temporary tent cities for hundreds of homeless people in their neighborhoods.

The actions follow a decision by U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter who insisted on Saturday that the Board of Supervisors find a more permanent solution for the homeless recently relocated from the Santa Ana riverbed.

Carter presides over litigation filed against the county in January by attorneys representing homeless from the river bed. In all, the Board of Supervisors agreed to move 400 people into motels for 30 days, but vouchers have begun to expire.

Laguna Niguel resident Michael Corral speaks during Tuesday’s city council meeting. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)

More than 300 people showed up at the Laguna Niguel city council meeting Tuesday to protest a proposed tent city for homeless people in their town. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)

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Orange County Supervisor Todd Spitzer speaks at Tuesday’s meeting of the Laguna Niguel city council. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)

Mayor Elaine Gennawey listens to a speaker during Tuesday’s meeting of the Laguna Niguel City Council. Most of the meeting was a discussion about a proposed tent city for homeless people in Laguna Niguel. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)

Laguna Niguel councilman Fred Minagar makes a point during Tuesday’s city council meeting. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)



Orange County Supervisor Lisa Bartlett listens to a speaker during the Laguna Niguel city council meeting Tuesday. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)

Dan Abrams speaks at Tuesday’s meeting of the Laguna Niguel city council. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)

Laguna Niguel resident Michael Corral speaks during Tuesday’s city council meeting. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)

Laguna Niguel Mayor Elaine Gennawey stands at the edge of the property being considered for a homeless encampment. (Photo by Bill Alkofer, Contributing Photographer)

According to the plan approved by the Board of Supervisors on Monday, March 19, if the county’s stock of temporary shelter beds is filled, the next 200 people would go to temporary tent-like structures at a 100-acre site adjacent the developing Orange County Great Park in Irvine.

If those fill up, the next 100 people would be sent to an abandoned landfill area near Gothard Street in Huntington Beach. Once those are full, the next 100 people would go to a county owned parcel in Laguna Niguel that is next to City Hall, a daycare center, a library and five minutes walking distance to an elementary school.

In Laguna Niguel, more than 600 residents stormed City Hall on Tuesday night, filling the council chambers and an overflow room, with excess crowd forced to stand outside. The highly charged meeting was attended by supervisors Lisa Bartlett and Todd Spitzer, who both spoke to the community at the start of the meeting.

Spitzer explained his lone “no vote” on Monday, calling his colleagues’ decision “boneheaded.”

He said he voted against the plan because he knew the Laguna Niguel site would end up being the No. 1 choice. He said Irvine’s litigious community would immediately file a lawsuit and that the “methane-filled” Huntington Beach site would be found unreasonable.

“That would mean the entire burden of the homeless shift would be on Laguna Niguel,” he said, drawing boos and shouts from the crowd. “I voted no because it was completely disrespectful to have a conversation with a federal judge and make a decision without coming back to you and having an informed and educated discussion with law enforcement to the potential effects for our communities.”

Bartlett argued with Spitzer on Tuesday saying she, too, opposed the Laguna Niguel location but that she voted to approve the plan because she knew if she didn’t, the judge would immediately put Laguna Niguel at the top of the list. She vowed to help Laguna Niguel fight the plan to bring a temporary homeless camp to their community.

“Supervisor Spitzer, I’m going to call you out,” Bartlett said. “When I spoke against Laguna Niguel for a site, you called me out and said, ‘My district has done so much, now it’s time for your district to do something’ … meaning move all the homeless people to Laguna Niguel.”

Her comments elicited boos and calls for recall from the crowd.

Bartlett also said she and Supervisor Michelle Steel will introduce an agenda item next week that the 400 people be moved to the El Toro Marine Base site.

“I will work with the city of Laguna Niguel and its staff for a temporary restraining order against Judge Carter and the county to prevent the homeless coming to Laguna Niguel,” she said.

On Wednesday, Steel, who like Bartlett voted to approve the temporary homeless camps, voiced her opposition to the Huntington Beach site which falls in her district. Using that location would require installation of additional onsite gas monitors and special building requirements, she said.

“The use of any part of this former landfill as an emergency shelter is completely unacceptable as the hazardous gas released by the former landfill could pose a real health risk,” Steel said in a statement.

On Thursday, March 22, Carter is expected to hold a public status update. Bartlett said she will amend her proposed agenda item to reflect the judge’s comments.

In Laguna Niguel on Tuesday night, more than 50 people spoke during a 150-minute public comment period. Residents cited safety, public heath and public nuisance concerns should homeless people be relocated to their community, echoing comments by Laguna Niguel Mayor Elaine Gennawey.

“I’m outraged by the Orange County Board of Supervisors poorly thought out decision to move their homeless tents out of the Santa Ana River Trail and move it to three different cities,” Gennawey said. “This does nothing to alleviate the problem of homelessness that has grown due to the Board of Supervisor’s abdication of leadership. It is unclear how moving the homeless into temporary tents in an area that lacks public transportation, is not pedestrian friendly, far from an employment center and far from services will benefit the homeless population in our county.”

Residents also pointed to the nearby library as a place where members of the homeless population in Dana Point and Costa Mesa have been known to cause problems; and to the fact that the proposed tent area borders a corner where at least 25 students wait for the bus daily.

“Yesterday was a sad day for the city,” said Michael Corral. “I didn’t sleep at night. I was furious. But today is a good day, I know what outrages you as a City Council. Our supervisors have failed us.”

In an emergency closed session following the Council’s regular meeting, Laguna Niguel City Council voted 5-0 to authorize litigation against the county with the help of outside counsel. Another emergency meeting is planned before the scheduled April 3 City Council meeting.

At the Irvine City Council meeting Tuesday, 19 people spoke and about 60 showed up to protest the plan to move a tent city to their neighborhood. Most expressed concern about safety and a drop in property value.

Parrisa Yazdani, who has lived in Irvine for three years, said growing up in a town with serious homeless problems motivated her to make sure her children don’t go through such an experience.

“We all have worked extremely hard to move in to this wonderful city,” she told the council. “Please don’t let them ruin it over night.”

Spitzer, whose district includes Irvine, spoke against his own board’s decision, saying the county is just pushing its problem to some cities.

“It scares me to death and it’s just plain wrong,” Spitzer told the council members, urging them to do whatever necessary to stop the county’s plan.

Irvine city officials said they have already done more than their fair share in trying to solve homelessness. The city has about 4,000 affordable housing units and plans to increase that number to 5,000 over the next five years, Councilwoman Melissa Fox said.

“I don’t know any other city with that kind of number,” she said. “There’s got to be a permanent solution. Even if it’s temporary housing, it should be housing. And tents are not housing.”

The Irvine council, in closed session after public comment, voted 4-0 to immediately file a lawsuit against the county.

In Huntington Beach, City Attorney Michael Gates said the City Council authorized him during a closed session Monday to take any necessary legal action to prevent the county from relocating homeless people to the site of an abandoned landfill on Gothard Street near Central Park.

“This property is not zoned for residential for one primary reason – records show this property contains high levels of methane gas, and under state standards, it is uninhabitable (for residential use),” Gates wrote in an email. “Things are developing on this issue but suffice it to say, we’ll take legal action if necessary.”