Malcolm X Library removed as possible safe parking lot site for vehicle dwellers

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — The Malcolm X Library in Emerald Hills has been removed as a possible location for the city of San Diego’s fifth safe parking site, according to local activist Shane Harris.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Harris touted the removal of the library’s parking lot for the city’s expansion of its program to help unhoused people living in their cars as a win for community members who voiced concern about the placement last year.

Some residents of the historically underserved neighborhood expressed safety concerns to FOX 5 in July, when the proposed site was announced, given the library is located across the street from a school and a Live Well Center.

“While I have compassion for our unsheltered community, I also have compassion for taxpayers,” Harris said on Wednesday.

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“I also believe that we’ve got to do better about asking neighborhoods about how they feel about things and we’ve got to build a comprehensive, cohesive approach to solving homelessness,” he continued. “Part of that comprehension is comprehend what neighborhoods are saying when you’re looking at doing something like this.”

Under the city’s proposal for the library, 100 parking spaces would be used for unsheltered people to stay in their vehicles overnight before leaving during the day. The operation of the library itself would have been unimpacted.

According to city officials, they are still looking at a number of other sites to place another safe parking lot. As for now, the city currently has two 24-hour lots in Mission Valley and Bay Ho, as well as two limited-hour lots in Serra Mesa and Kearny Mesa.

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