Overnight parking a topic as homeless solutions discussed in Santa Cruz

Overnight parking on Delaware Avenue has become one of the topics of discussion as the city of Santa Cruz weighs options to help members of the homeless community.

One of the items of discussion was lifting the overnight parking restrictions on Delaware Avenue from Swift Street to Shaffer Road.

“I think they have no idea how much of an impact this would have on the community,” says Santa Cruz resident Alex Viera. “It’ll be much worse than the Ross encampment.”

Other residents have weighed in on social media, saying removing that parking restriction would bring in crime along with a mess they say RV owners leave behind.

Viera along with Councilman Drew Glover brought up another concern–vigilantism among those residents unhappy should overnight parking be allowed on Delaware.

“There have been lots of reports of people living in their cars being harassed by residents in the community and not by police officers,” says Councilman Glover.

Glover says the ultimate goal is to help the homeless in any situation, including the Ross encampment, transition to some form of shelter. This includes the possibility of having more “Safe Parking” programs in the city.

“There’s a lot of transient people living in their RVs who don’t want help,” says Viera. “They just want a free place to stay and free resources.”

Viera went on to claim some members of the homeless community will steal from local shops. He also says he doesn’t want people who live in RVs or are staying in their vehicles overnight on Delaware to make the mess they are “known to do.”

He also says the current city council is going against the wishes of the voters.

“You know when people write to me they start off with how long they’ve lived in Santa Cruz and so on,” says Glover. “But some of the people living in these encampments are people I’ve gone to high school with. So some of them have been here as long if not longer than those expressing to keep the community safe.”

Glover says the city’s affordable housing problem and low-wage jobs have completed what he calls a “trifecta poverty is becoming more rampant than it has been in the past.”

Any discussion or decision on the homeless situation in Santa Cruz will take place this evening at the Santa Cruz City Council Chambers at 809 Center Street.

Discussion on this particular topic will begin at 7 pm.