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Manteca opens temp area for homeless tents
homeless
A homeless man stacks his belongings in a Manteca shopping center.

The homeless — who had been camping along Industrial Park Drive — are no longer doing so.

That’s because the city, working with His Way Recovery, has allowed them to camp inside the fenced in area at 555 Industrial Park Drive.

Councilman Dave Breitenbucher noted it is a win-win for the homeless as well as the community.

“It eliminated an eyesore along Industrial Park Drive,” Breitenbucher said.

The homeless started congregating outside of the site of the temporary homeless emergency service center in December.

The city’s homeless services center has not been able to provide overnight accommodations as work has yet to be completed on two portable budlings donated by the Christian Worship Center that are being remodeled as dorms.

Breitenbucher said there are leaks and several other issues that still need to be addressed.

“The contactor needs five days (of good weather),” the councilman said.

By being able to camp inside the fenced area it not only addressed a public eyesore but it provided increased security for the homeless.

The city also worked with other local organizations to open a temporary emergency warming center in the 600 block of East Yosemite Avenue in the former Manteca News building until the work at 555 Industrial Park Drive is completed.

“We’re doing what we can to take care of the homeless until (things are ready at 555 Industrial Park Drive),” noted Interim City Manager Toni Lundgren.

Earlier in the week, the city moved to make it clear the auxiliary parking lot for Lincoln Park located next to the fire station on Powers Avenue was closed to everyone — housed or not — from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. given it is covered under the citywide park closure policy.

As many as nine homeless people had been parking overnight there in their vehicles. Some were camping outside next to their vehicles.

Nearby residents complained to the city about the noise as well as the mess the homeless were leaving behind. The city has posted the area with the required signs to prevent overnight parking.

State law allows vehicles to park up to 72 hours on public streets. The courts allow the homeless to sleep overnight in their vehicles as long as they follow the same rules everyone else does including the 72-hour time limit.

Cities are able to carve out exceptions on public property for such overnight parking if the ban applies to everyone and not just the homeless. They can’t, however, ban the homeless from using every municipal parking lot.

Cities are allowed to make a few reasonable exceptions which Manteca has done for the transit center parking lot.

The city uses a private security firm to enforce the transit center ban.

 

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com