Safe Parking Lot Opens in Mission Valley – First to Accommodate RVs

The Mission Valley parking lot for homeless who live in vehicles has finally opened.

Promised by Mayor Faulconer for months, the lot – located near the corner of Friars Road and Mission Village Drive – opened for the very first time at 6pm on Monday, June 17 . It will continue to operate between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. and also is the first such lot that is open to people living in their RVs. The lot, part of the City of San Diego’s Safe Parking Lot” Program accommodates up to 80 RVs or 200 standard vehicles.

A statement from the mayor’s office read in part: “Like the other two parking sites, this lot will include access to case managers, housing specialists, and more.”

Services provided at the lot will focus on several areas, including: basic needs assistance, employment, family wellness, school success, financial education, credit repair and housing.

The lot is the third such “Safe Parking Lot” to open – but again, is the first to accommodate RVs. Jewish Family Service will manage the lot as it does one other of the city’s safe parking lots. The other two City-run Safe Parking lots combine to accommodate 120 cars and up to 200 people per night. There are also two safe parking lots operated in the City by a private non-profit organization.

It was last month when the San Diego City Council voted to re-establish a ban that restricts people from living in their vehicles on city streets, with the exception of certain designated lots. The Council vote came in the face of a quick backlash of resident anger over unbridled vehicles – many RVs – apparently taking up habitation on some of the more tony neighborhoods along the coast.

Unlike other issues, the Mayor and Council reacted swiftly on the issue and returned the ban on living in vehicles on city streets, overturned by a Federal Court here in San Diego because the old law was too vague to enforce.

Source: CBS8

(Hat tip to Tracy )