In Pacific Beach, Dec. 8 was a red-letter day many in the beach community would like to see repeated: The city’s successful eviction of a homeless encampment from a neighbor’s backyard.
After months of living next to a home at 2724 Hornblend St. where as many as 25 people lived without water, power or sewage, neighbors were elated to learn the City of San Diego, working through the judicial process, was able to put the property into receivership and vacated.
The action was long overdue in the view of at least one neighbor.
“It gradually got worse and worse as more people started showing up in the backyard,” said Mike Perry who, along with wife Lesa, lives in a condo next door. “People were setting up tents on the property, which had lots of bicycles and garbage.”
It got so bad, living next door became almost intolerable, Perry said.
“They kept breaking into our laundry room and stealing things,” he said, adding he caught a homeless woman once trying to steal a package off his front porch. “People were out there smoking crack or meth. The worst part was the yelling, screaming and fighting with each other at night. The last straw for me was finding them using our walkway in the back as their own personal toilet.”
Rick Bushree, who owns property across the street from the former encampment, had a similarly bad experience. His involvement began about nine or 10 months ago when the elderly woman who had owned and been living at the residence moved out.
“When she left, the vagrants just started moving into the property,” Bushree said. “It wasn’t a good situation because they started using people’s yards as sewers, thefts increased, and they were getting more aggressive going into other people’s properties and defecating. We’d call the police and they would come down and get them to move on. But then they’d be back again the next day.”
Enter Richardson C. (Red) Griswold, Esq., who now has responsibility over the former homeless encampment property.
“The court appoints a third-party, neutral receiver, me in this case,” said Griswold who, since Nov. 18, has been in control of the property. “It’s my obligation to clean it up. From this point forward, I’m in control. I report directly to the court.”
Griswold anticipates it will take three to five months to get things completely straightened out at 2724 Hornblend.
“I have to solve the existing code violations, and then come up with an exit plan for what will be the permanent solution,” said the court-appointed receiver who added he has the authority to hire whomever is necessary to get the property back in presentable condition. He can then present a bill to the property’s owners for whatever work he has had done to fix it.
“What’s happening is I can go to the owner and say, ‘OK, you need to pay the bills off, or we can put a lien on or refinance the property – or you can consent to a court-authorized sale of the property.’ ”
On Dec. 8, the city called a press conference attended by Griswold, property neighbors, City Attorney Jan Goldsmith, Second District Councilmember Lorie Zapf and San Diego Police.
“Our City Code Enforcement Department, The SDPD and city attorney know this address all too well,” said Zapf at the conference. “I’m so happy to be here to give the neighborhood back to the neighbors. They don’t have to endure being intimidated and harassed by squatters that steal their property and use their sidewalks and alleyways as toilets.”
“As a councilmember, there is no greater reward then helping constituents,” continued Zapf. “However, there is also no greater burden when the quality of life of constituents is diminished by circumstances beyond what a ‘council member’ can fix. I’m grateful that the City of San Diego has a great team (code enforcement, SDPD, city attorney) that has worked together to restore this neighborhood.”