SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — The city of San Diego is expected to start cracking down on homeless encampments as soon as Monday. That's when city officials say they'll begin re-enforcing laws against illegal lodging and encroachment since it first stopped back in 2020 because of the pandemic.
"We have an obligation to have a safe work and customer environment with them there, it’s very difficult to do sometimes," said Karen Anderson Thatcher.
Thatcher says it’s been, in her opinion, hazardous with homeless people around her business.
"If you drive down the street they’re in the street, they don’t really follow the rules of the road, they’re all over the street and they come into the business," she said.
Thatcher owns a nursey called Walter Andersen Nursery, just off Sports Arena Boulevard. She says she’s lost business because of the encampment, on top of homeless citizens coming into her place of work.
"We don’t know how to deal with these people when they come in and it’s very difficult," said Thatcher.
San Diego police are expected to resume enforcing laws against homeless encampments on public property this week. Homeless people will be offered shelter and other services before citations are written.
Something Thatcher says she’s grateful for as the homeless population has been increasing.
'It started to grow at the end of the summer and we let the city know there was a problem and it continued to grow and grow, it’s been about this size for three months," Thatcher said.
This so called crackdown will include a large encampment on Sports Arena Boulevard between Rosecrans Street and Pacific Highway.
And the time it’s taken to get to this point, Thatcher says has been hard to deal with.
"Extremely frustrating especially when you're in contact with the mayors office, the district office, the police--and the police say they can’t do anything by the policy set by the city," said Thatcher.
Enforcement policies have changed a few times over the past few years due to COVID-19 and other health concerns. CBS 8 was told every person will be offered shelter and services before any enforcement action is taken on a homeless individual.
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