Point Loma residents holding town hall to protest proposed homeless shelter
UPDATE: Point Loma residents protest proposed homeless shelter at H Barracks
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5) — Community activists will be holding a town hall meeting Monday evening in Point Loma to protest a proposed homeless shelter.
The city of San Diego plans to place the 700-person “safe camping site” at an abandoned military barracks, often referred to as H Barracks, located near the airport off North Harbor Drive in between Kincaid Road and McCain Road.
City officials say the opening of the homeless shelter is crucial to its enforcement of the ordinance banning encampments implemented last year, as well as its ability to protect the public right of way.
However, the proposed shelter placement has drawn a lot of blowback from some Point Loma residents.
At one of the meetings on the proposal in November, those opposing it voiced concern about drug use, crime and mental health episodes that could pose a safety risk to the community.
“A tent city with 700 people on a strip of concrete next to the airport runways is inhumane, it’s not a good shelter and it’s not safe,” one resident said during the council meeting.
Residents at the town hall, which is being organized by Point Loma CARES, are anticipated to echo these issues. It will be held at 6 p.m. in Building 177 at Liberty Station, off of Dewey Road.
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