SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — A homeless encampment along North Magnolia Avenue persisted for months before the county finally cleaned it up.
Now, officials unveiled a new safe parking lot that will give people living in their cars a secure place to park overnight.
“I think the safe parking lot is an excellent idea,” said Michelle Metschel, Deputy Mayor of El Cajon. “I’m really glad that the county has stepped up and put this in.”
The new safe parking lot opens Wednesday in an unincorporated part of the county beyond El Cajon city limits on North Magnolia Avenue. There are 17 parking spaces along with restrooms and handwashing stations. The County’s Health & Human Services Agency contracted with the nonprofit ‘Dreams for Change’ to operate the lot between the hours of 5:30 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.
“What we often see are those who are homeless and in their vehicles, they’re typically first-time homeless,” said Dr. Theresa Smith, CEO of Dreams for Change. “So safe parking is a very unique, cost-effective way to assist these types of individuals to access these types of resources and to really move from their car to housing without actually ending up on the street.”
But some business owners CBS 8 talked to in the area are skeptical that the safe lot is going to be a good thing.
“Well, I think it’s a nice improvement to what was here prior, but I’m still not convinced that this is going to fix the problem,” said Don McKay, who owns a cabinet shop nearby. “Without requiring them to do anything to improve themselves, it’s probably just going to be another place for them to come and hang out and make a mess.”
Deputy Mayor of El Cajon, Michelle Metschel, disagrees. She says the safe lot will have strict requirements for people who park there.
“These are not random people that can just say, ‘Hey, I want to park here for the night.’ No, they have to register,” said Metschel. “They have to be vetted. They have to abide by the rules.”
And those rules include no drinking or drugs. It’ll have on-site security 24/7 and wrap-around services for those who need it.
“Hopefully, they won’t have the drug problems that we had before,” said McKay.
Metschel sees this safe lot as a drastic improvement compared to the roadside tents and encampments that were there before.
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