Pepin said he also sees the potential for homelessness to increase in Poway after the San Diego City Council’s ban on homeless encampments on public property went into effect the last weekend of July. “I have three young kids so it’s particularly important to me that children and families feel safe in the community.” “That’s why I felt the need to take action quickly so kids wouldn’t have to walk past the encampment every day on their way to and from school,” said Pepin, who has three children ages 2, 6 and 7. When the moms talked to Poway Sheriff’s deputies about the situation, they were told the camping was legal as long as the men moved their vehicles within a 72-hour period, he said. Over time, the group grew from two men to seven, he said. Poway City Councilman Brian Pepin said he proposed the ordinance after hearing from two moms who said their children were walking past campers near Pomerado Elementary School and Meadowbrook Middle School on Pomerado Road going to and from school.īeer cans were strewn around, a canopy popped up and chairs were set out, Pepin said. In the San Diego Regional Task Force on Homelessness’s 2023 Point-in-Time-Count, two unsheltered people were reported in Poway - down from 23 unsheltered people in the 2022 count. Poway officials said Sheriff’s deputies are not limited to only working with the Alliance for Regional Solutions to find beds. “Very few shelter beds in North County are available.” “We have a waitlist and a small amount of beds,” she said. The problem is the lack of open beds, said Chavez, who chairs the Bridge to Housing Committee under the Alliance for Regional Solutions’ umbrella. There are several shelters - Operation HOPE-North County in Vista, Haven House in Escondido, and La Posada in Carlsbad - but Poway referrals would more likely be made to Interfaith Community Services in Escondido, said Miranda Chavez, director of the Social Services Department at Community Resource Center in Encinitas. The city contracts with Alliance for Regional Solutions, a North County collaborative nonprofit, to provide shelter and homeless services outside the city. The consequences for violating the ordinance will not be a fine or arrest, but the mechanism for removing unlawful encampments with 48 hours’ notice and confiscating personal property by the Sheriff’s Department or other officials with 24 hours’ notice. People will be cited for sleeping on public property only if they refuse an offer for an available shelter bed, said Poway City Attorney Alan Fenstermacher. The new ordinance, which was adopted by the City Council on July 18, applies to camping and storage of personal property in places such as parks, streets and alleys, public sidewalks and recreational areas. Homeless people will be referred to shelters that provide services on a contract basis, officials said. 17, the city of Poway will enforce its ban on homeless people camping and storing personal property in public areas.
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