Vehicle dwellers meet with lawyers as $3.2M settlement in lawsuit nears approval
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Unhoused people joined lawyers at a Mission Bay park Wednesday to have their questions answered about a nearly $3.2 million settlement that will shape the city of San Diego’s efforts to enforce ordinances barring people from living in their vehicles.
The agreement in the case, Michael Bloom, et al. v. City of San Diego, creates new guidelines for city leaders to its enforcement of the Vehicle Habitation Ordinance and Oversized Vehicle Ordinance against those bedding down in cars or RVs. The rules will last for a three-year period.
Unhoused San Diegans who would be impacted by the settlement’s stipulations spoke to FOX 5/KUSI on Wednesday at the question-and-answer session with the Disability Rights California lawyers at the helm of the federal suit.
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“I was kind of one of those people who thought there was no reason to be homeless,” Allison Prater recalled. She later found herself in the same position nearly a year ago: A fixed income and no place to turn but her car.
“Come to find out it can happen to anybody,” Prater said. “I moved to different spots on the street. It’s a very difficult thing to go through.”
While Prater won’t benefit monetarily from the lawsuit, she said she is hoping she will gain the benefits of the relaxed ordinances.
“I will be living in a vehicle and I will be experiencing the new laws that have changed,” she added.
“They can’t just target someone because they appear to be living in their vehicle,” Ann E. Menasche, lead attorney for the class-action suit, explained of the changes to FOX 5/KUSI. “They have to have a suspicion of another crime … and give them an opportunity to relocate.”
According to court documents, when a “reasonably available nighttime parking” option is not available for them to relocate to, San Diego police officers cannot enforce either the vehicle habitation or the oversized vehicle ordinances.
Chris Endres said he is hoping the new ordinances spark change for the future, as he said he has lived on the road nearly his entire life.
“I’ve lost $20,000 worth of things towed away by the city and not for great reasons, for nothing more than parking citations,” Endres said. “I’m not a criminal, I don’t do drugs or anything, I’m raising a family.”
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“I’m 55. I would love to find my final place to live where I can just live out my senior years with my dogs,” Prater added. “That would be happiness for me.”
The settlement agreement has still yet to be approved by a federal court, although it is expected to be signed off on by Oct. 10. Once it is approved, the terms of the agreement will go into effect.
It will become one of several settlement agreements guiding city actions towards the population reached after lawsuits were brought by homeless people and their advocates over the last two decades.
FOX 5’s Danielle Dawson contributed to this report.
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