Carlsbad wants to reassess its policies for helping the homeless and could restrict sleeping in vehicles in light of a recent Supreme Court decision.
“We need to look at people living in vehicles and what the other cities are doing in our region,” said Councilmember Teresa Acosta. People tend to be pushed out of areas with tough restrictions and into places that are more permissive, she said.
The annual Point in Time Count in January showed a 44 percent increase in people living in a car, truck or recreational vehicle this year over the previous year throughout the region. In Carlsbad the number increased from 29 people in 2023 to 56 people in 2024, said Mandy Mills, the city’s director of housing and homeless services.
Carlsbad’s municipal code does not prohibit sleeping in vehicles, although 15 of the 18 cities in the region restrict it in some way, Mills said.
The City Council looked at nine options Tuesday, including new prohibitions and the increased enforcement of a camping ban, but will wait for the city’s Housing Commission, which next meets Oct. 10, to offer a recommendation before making a decision.
The renewed look at homelessness is the result of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision June 28 to overturn an earlier case, Martin vs. Boise. The Martin vs. Boise case required law enforcement officers to offer temporary shelter before anyone can be cited for sleeping or camping on public property.
Because of Martin vs. Boise, many cities including Carlsbad began offering motel vouchers as an alternative to issuing citations to people camped on public property. The vouchers are among numerous programs adopted in recent years to help provide assistance to the increasing homeless population.
Mayor Keith Blackburn made a case for stronger enforcement of camping prohibitions.
Some people have mental health problems, physical disabilities or simply bad luck, and they deserve the city’s help if they will accept it, Blackburn said.
Others refuse help because “they don’t want to give up their meth for a house,” Blackburn said, and those people may need to be forced to accept treatment.
“It’s not compassionate to keep coddling the people who want to live on the street,” said Blackburn, a former police officer. “I want very much to be sure our police have all the tools they need.”
Councilmember Melanie Burkholder, whose District 1 includes the Village Coaster Station, said she’s heard complaints about homeless people at the train station and that the city should work with North County Transit District for better enforcement there.
Most of the options proposed by city staffers involved updating or expanding programs already in place.
Carlsbad already is adding space to its La Posada de Guadalupe shelter, which is run by Catholic Charities and has housed migrant farmworkers since 1992. The city recently received a $2 million county grant to build a second floor with 30 to 50 beds for women and children.
Another possible option is to remove the requirement to offer shelter from the city code, or change the code to make offering shelter a “best practice” instead of a requirement.
Other ideas to be considered include a safe camping program, a safe parking program, expanding the use of motel vouchers, and adding a social worker outreach program for people living in vehicles.
Carlsbad and Oceanside together were awarded an $11.4 million state grant this year to address homelessness along the state Route 78 corridor they share between Interstate 5 and Vista.
Both cities will use the money to expand existing programs intended to build a pathway to permanent housing for as many as 200 people in camps along the highway and the nearby Buena Vista Creek.