2 SLO County supervisors visit safe parking site ahead of critical meeting on its future

With an update on the future of the Oklahoma Avenue safe parking site looming, two San Luis Obispo County supervisors visited the people who will be affected most by their decision next week: the parking site’s residents.

Supervisors Jimmy Paulding and Bruce Gibson visited the safe parking site Wednesday morning to meet with residents and learn more about their needs ahead of the May 2 Board of Supervisors meeting, which will feature updates on the Countywide Plan to Address Homelessness, the Homeless Management Information System and the safe parking site.

“My vision is that if we are not to be running Oklahoma Avenue at some point in the future, that everyone who lives here gets transitioned to a stable housing situation,” Gibson told The Tribune. “That may require a considerable amount of creativity and flexibility in terms of how we set that up.”

The safe parking program was launched in the summer of 2021 as a form of temporary, transitional housing for homeless San Luis Obispo County residents living in cars and recreational vehicles, with case management onsite to help residents take the next step into permanent housing.

However, as the months passed, short stays turned permanent, and residents became dissatisfied with the lack of progress in expanding onsite services and finding housing.

On Feb. 28, The Tribune first reported the safe parking site would begin winding down operations until all site residents were successfully housed and no longer living on the property north of San Luis Obispo, a move that was met by mixed reactions from site residents. No firm target date has been set to reach that point due to the unpredictable and likely lengthy process of housing residents.

Residents voiced their concerns about the closure plan at the most recent Board of Supervisors meeting, where they asked that the site — despite its flaws — remain open.

“If you guys can take consideration of what we’re going through and what we’d want to do, that would be appreciated,” site resident Dave Richford told the board during public comment on April 18.

Residents propose alternatives to closure

After the site residents spoke at the board meeting, Richford said he sent a letter to supervisors and was shocked to receive a reply from Gibson and Paulding the next day.

Richford organized the visit as a means of allowing residents to provide feedback to the supervisors and hear directly from them about the site’s future. Gibson and Paulding met with around two dozen residents for 45 minutes at the shelter’s shaded dining tables.

Supervisor Debbie Arnold also agreed to a meeting with Richford next week, he said.

First and foremost, Richford said, most residents just want the site to stay open.

Despite the lack of many basic services such as water and electric hookups, which many RV owners consider essential, the site has been a “blessing” for people experiencing the physical and mental distress of homelessness.

With the site’s actual closure date unknown, Richford said the announcement of its eventual end felt like punishment for something residents have little control over.

“I appreciate the frustration of the situation,” Gibson told the assembled residents.

During the conversation, Richford and other residents proposed several ideas for how the parking site could continue in some capacity, as not all residents want to move into permanent housing. These residents see the RVs and campers as their homes, Richford said.

Richford proposed running the parking site more like a typical RV campground for people unwilling to go through transitional or permanent supportive housing.

Instead of continuing to spend their money keeping generators running, residents could instead pay a flat rate or a percentage of their income to stay at a permanent, supportive campground with better services and management, similar to how many affordable housing contracts work, Richford said.

Some of the components for more consistent supportive services are already in place, Richford said.

Richford said LAGS Recovery Centers’ medical and mental health care teams will visit the site within the next week, and operations such as a volunteer food bank run by Richford and homeless advocate Tim Waag could make the site far more livable for those who still want to stay long-term.

More volunteer work by site residents and less county spending could help these proposals pencil out, Richford said.

“If they were to do the RV park for us, I think a lot of people in here that want housing would compromise by going into an RV park,” Richford said after the meeting.

Some residents remain skeptical of site future

One resident named Carol, who has lived at the parking site since its inception, said the residents weren’t given a clear timeline as to when they should leave, which may have contributed to some of the extended stays.

Case managers’ interactions with residents early in the site’s operation were somewhat inconsistent. Carol, who only wanted to be identified by her first name, said she had not met with a case manager until around a year into her stay at the site.

In recent months, however, Carol said case managers have been much more directly involved with the residents.

Around four months ago, Carol said, the site’s case managers from the Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo have helped her apply for Section 8 housing vouchers, which she hopes will lead to some form of permanent affordable housing.

While she waits for Section 8-eligible housing to become available, though, Carol said she isn’t sure how much the site will change under whatever new plan the supervisors choose.

To do that, the county would need to find a good site manager who could enforce rules and a code of conduct, which Carol said is one of the biggest issues with the way the site is run currently.

Carol said the county would also need to be more discerning in who is allowed at the site. She said while living onsite, she’s seen people doing “evil, horrible things” that have gone unnoticed or unenforced by site security.

“They need to run this place like this is a campground, not a homeless hole,” Carol said.

As a 12-year RV camper, Carol said Richford’s idea makes the most sense for residents who wanted to stay in an RV campground; when Paulding asked residents if anyone wanted to keep living in RVs, a dozen hands were raised.

“I did like (the supervisors) — they listened, they really talked to us, told us their opinions about things, laws, what they can actually do as far as supervisors,” Carol said. “But as far as advancing all of us, I don’t know about it. I have my doubts.”

Gibson: ‘I don’t consider this site a failure’

Gibson told site residents that while the county is “behind the curve” on its homelessness response, ultimately he still wants the site to function as it was originally intended: as a transitional step.

“I don’t consider this site a failure,” Gibson told the residents. “Nobody should be here very long.”

Gibson emphasized the need to find a solution for the shortage of housing units and supportive services that would bridge the gap between residents living in the sites and getting into affordable and supportive housing.

While the site’s future is still uncertain until the county approves a new plan, Gibson said no one will be forced back into parking or living on the street.

Paulding said working around the county’s existing budget will pose a challenge in reshaping the site, and the county’s ongoing shortage in every type of housing won’t make that challenge any easier as the supervisors weigh their options.

“Our system is broken,” Paulding told residents.

Gibson said creating opportunities to build more housing soon is at the top of the list for the county, which will provide more means for housing the remaining residents.

Because putting a person in housing alone often isn’t enough, providing better, more expansive services will also feature as a priority in the homelessness response, Gibson said.

That’s “a big lift,” Gibson said, but is a goal the county has to make good on.

“This particular visit was really valuable to hear firsthand from the residents, especially those that have been here a long time,” Gibson said after the meeting. “It hasn’t fundamentally changed my view of what we need to do: We need to create a program that is going to make this sort of site a transitional experience (to) accomplish its initial goals.”

Richford said he’s hopeful the supervisors will take the resident’s concerns to heart when they meet May 2 and discuss the site’s future.

“We accomplished getting our point across,” Richford said “The suggestions I brought up on behalf of the community, hopefully they’ll take into consideration ... I mean, the county’s the county — their hands are tied just like we are, and they can only do so much.”