SAN DIEGO — There's growing frustration among RV owners in the Mission Bay area who have been ticketed daily by police.
"This is my little oasis," said Rick, while showing CBS 8 his RV.
He’s called the RV home for two months.
It's a new lifestyle for him, but one he's grown to love.
"Lived on a boat for over 20 years in downtown San Diego, and they pretty much said, I can't live on it no more. And my only other option with the price of everything with rent is this RV," Rick said.
Over the past five weeks, Rick has been staying in a public lot near De Anza Cove.
Though signs there say no parking from 2 to 4 a.m., Rick assumed it was OK based on a recent settlement reached in a class action lawsuit between the City of San Diego and people who sleep in their cars and RV’s. The settlement allows for vehicle habitation if people have nowhere else to go.
“That's what made my decision, you know, and then just a few months later, the city is like, we're not having that. We're going to pass any ordinance, anything we need to do to get rid of them. And I don't know where they expect you to go," said Rick.
A few days ago, Rick started getting tickets.
One was for $52.50 in violation of signs.
Two others were for $112.50 each for violating a city ordinance that restricts overnight parking of oversized vehicles without a permit.
Along with those tickets, he received flyers detailing the ordinance and a list of safe parking lots.
“It's a bunch of hoopla. There's nothing ever available. The city and the San Diego Police Department are almost like they want you just to disappear, just like, you know what? We can't have you there. We can't have you there. We can't have you anywhere,” said Rick.
CBS 8 talked with others in the lot who have been ticketed as well.
"We're getting ticketed every single night we didn't have that much money to begin with to scrounge up to get these RV’s and stuff, and now they're ticketing us till we lose them," said David Zimmerman.
"I keep getting these tickets to where I can't really pay them," said William Maher.
CBS 8 reached out to both the city and police.
A city spokesperson said:
The San Diego Police Department is hearing resident concerns and taking enforcement actions when appropriate. People experiencing homelessness have the same public access to beach parking as everyone else, but if violations are occurring, they will be addressed. This starts with offering services and education of applicable laws, but noncompliance could result in citations based on the San Diego Municipal Code and/or California Penal Code. This enforcement is done with a combination of officers from Northern Division and the Neighborhood Policing Division. Prior to enforcement, services are offered, this includes referrals to the City’s Safe Parking Program if space is available.
A SDPD captain told CBS 8 the same thing, adding there are other public lots with no overnight restrictions people can access.
But, the lead attorney in the class action lawsuit against the city told CBS 8 while a judge still needs to sign off on the settlement, no one should be getting tickets right now, and if they are, those tickets should be forgiven.
"They shouldn't be ticketed unless they have an option for parking really available to them,” said Ann Menasche.
Menasche plans to look into the issue.
In the meantime, she has a website set up with information and a link to ask for ticket forgiveness.
“My hope is that they would just leave us alone. People are just trying to live their life,” said Rick.
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