Sacramento clears 160 vehicles used by homeless from business park. Are more sweeps coming?
The city of Sacramento ordered 160 vehicles to clear from a North Sacramento industrial park last week, and on Monday sent crews to the street to tow many of the vehicles and trailers that remained. Vehicles and trailers have been used by homeless individuals for months in the area - and the enforcement may be a sign of a potential crackdown in how the city responds to vehicles used as shelter.
A total of 18 vehicles and trailers were towed on Monday from Commerce Circle, city spokesman Tim Swanson said. Many vehicles and trailers had moved from the area since receiving notices from the city that they would be towed, Swanson said.
By 9:30 a.m., Commerce Circle was a flurry of activity. Dozens of tow trucks and city vehicles with flashing lights lined the roads. People worked on the ground under cars and trailers trying to quickly get them to run so they could move before they were towed. Some ran around looking for tires or tools. Those who were able to move their vehicles without an issue came back to help others.
Alice’a Stanley lives in an inoperable camper on Commerce Circle with her two children, ages 14 and 7. Her car was towed Monday.
“I was going to sell the car for money for Christmas presents,” Stanley, 46, said through tears. “I don’t know what we’re gonna do for Christmas now.”
Stanley was just released from the hospital, where she was being treated for pneumonia, she said. The city’s Department of Community Response is looking for housing for the family, so she did not have to move her trailer Monday, but now she feels unsafe.
“I feel like a target out here tonight,” said Stanley, who is single. “I’m the only one out here. There’s no one to keep me safe. We used to have a community.”
The area around Commerce Circle, which includes Lathrop Way, has been heavily impacted by homeless campers and those living in cars and RVs. Owners of local businesses in the area have complained about urine and feces, and also about vehicles being broken into.
Crackdown on homeless vehicles
The city’s Department of Community Response, which responds to homeless camps, has visited the Commerce Circle area regularly for several months, offering whatever resources they had available at the time, said city spokesman Tim Swanson. On Monday, all the city’s shelters, motels and Safe Ground sites were full, however.
The sites are typically full, so the City Council in August adopted Mayor Darrell Steinberg’s $100 million Comprehensive Siting Plan to Address Homelessness, with 20 sites for new shelters, tiny homes and sanctioned tent encampments. None of those 20 sites have yet opened.
Last week, the city placed notices on 160 vehicles on Commerce Circle and the surrounding area because they were in violation of the city’s vehicle parking code, said Kelli Trapani, a city spokesman.
Vehicles owned by homeless individuals are subject to the same traffic and parking laws as those owned by everyone else, meaning the vehicles must be registered and can’t be parked in the same place for more than 72 hours, according to a city web page. Sacramento County’s coronavirus public health order prohibited the clearing of homeless camps and vehicles – a strategy aimed at trying to prevent the spread of the virus – but that order expired in June.
The Commerce Circle clearing, the largest in recent memory, could signal the city is about to start towing more homeless vehicles. At a community meeting held at Two Rivers Park in October with Steinberg and City Councilwoman Katie Valenzuela, a police officer told those in attendance that the department is getting new direction from the city to treat homeless vehicles the same as others.
Tents on Commerce Circle are allowed to stay.
‘Where do I sign up?’
After receiving the notice on her trailer, Jennie Welles went to City Hall to try to find out how to can get shelter or housing for the group. She was unsuccessful.
“Everybody here has been on the 211 list and the 311 list with no response,” said Welles, who’s been homeless for about 20 years. “We don’t know how to get into housing. Sacramento says they have it for us but they don’t.”
Sarah Gerard, 49, said she was not offered shelter or housing. She said she expected her trailer to be towed Monday, which will mean she’ll be sleeping in a tent, where she does not feel safe. While trailers often have locks, tents do not. They are also warmer, and nighttime temperatures are expected to dip into the 30s this week.
“(The trailer) is better than a tent but that’s what I’m going back to,” Gerard said. “There’s not a lot of help out here.”
Krystle Little, 32, moved her RV to a light rail station parking lot, but she’s not sure if she’ll be able to stay there. She said she was not offered any shelter or housing.
“I’ve heard of this housing and hotels,” Little said. “Where do I sign up?”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the timing of when the city of Sacramento issued notices that vehicles would be towed from Commerce Circle and the number of vehicles and trailers towed on Monday.
This story was originally published December 7, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
