SAN DIEGO — In February, CBS 8 reported that the City of San Diego came to a settlement agreement in a class action lawsuit on the Vehicle Habitation Ordinance.
Ann Menasche filed the class action lawsuit in 2018. The suit went against the ordinances that didn't allow people to live in their cars and to park oversized vehicles on city streets between the hours of 2 a.m. and 6 a.m.
CBS 8 spoke with Menasche in February.
"This is a class action, that class is everyone who's lived in their vehicle at any time from 2017 to the present, their only shelter is their vehicle, then their part of our class and that relief applies to them," she said last month.
At the moment, there are four parking lots across the city of San Diego, called the ‘Safe Parking Program.’ Two of the parking lots are open 24 hours.
Under the recent settlement, the VHO can be enforced as long as the city can provide a place for people sleeping in their cars to stay.
David Howard has lived in his car for months because he couldn't afford rent anymore. He explains that the lots at the Safe Parking Program are not ideal for everyone.
“To be in a group like that with all these people like crammed in there together, I wouldn't be able to sleep... I'd go crazy,” Howard said.
This new court ruling means that if there are no available parking spaces at any of the four safe parking lots, people can stay in their cars without the risk of citation. However, this is a growing concern for city residents like Stephanie and Ken Goldman who reached out to CBS 8 for answers.
“We've had people park in front of our place for over a week or longer and then that leads other residents who live here unable to have a place to park,” Stephanie said.
CBS 8 reached out to the City of San Diego to find out whether there are plans to add parking lots under the Safe Parking Program in the near future.
A spokesperson for the City of San Diego said in a statement:
The City has finalized a settlement on the legal challenge to the Vehicle Habitation Ordinance enabling San Diego Police to resume full enforcement of the ordinance after receiving appropriate training; that training begins Thursday, March 21. Under the settlement, the Vehicle Habitation Ordinance can be enforced so long as the City is able to provide a suitable alternative for people sleeping in their vehicles, which are doing at our four Safe Parking sites across the City, two of which are open 24-hours.
The City is actively working to create more Safe Parking options. In addition to enabling people to park overnight and sleep in their vehicles without risk of citation, Safe Parking provides access to services and case management to help them work toward permanent housing.
The Mayor expects the Police Department (and any other relevant city department) enforce violations of the Vehicle Habitation Ordinance going forward.
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