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Homeless move to SLO overpass as storm approaches

January 13, 2023

Homeless encampment on Los Osos Valley Road in San Luis Obispo

By KAREN VELIE

A group of homeless people who typically camp along a creek bed in San Luis Obispo have moved their belongings to the Los Osos Valley Road bridge over Highway 101.

Eight to 10 homeless people have set up camp on the bridge, some with large plastic tarps draped over their tents and belongings. Most voiced plans to move back to the creek bed after the rainy season.

Homeless encampment on Los Osos Valley Road in San Luis Obispo

While a series of storms pounds SLO County, San Luis Obispo’s overnight shelter is full, leaving many of the county’s most vulnerable residents with few options.


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If we are not enforcing regulations why do we need regulators? Decades of creek restoration and highway landscaping abandoned and removed. The homeless are arrogant and increasingly entitled.


22

SLO’s homeless population was supersized after 40 Prado went online. Now the town is a hobo magnet for the entire West Coast, and “professional” homeless from parts unknown have glommed onto it. “Hey Brother, head to Obispo…they hook you up there!”


12

Hey Kane, are these hobo conversations just happening in your head, or do you hang out at homeless camps and actually hear this sort of thing? Sounds like main-stream-media fear mongering at its best!


1

Motivated by environmental restoration/preservation efforts and life safety issues associated with well-known historic adverse flood impacts, the City of San Luis Obispo studied, developed action plans, and passed ordinances about 25 to 30 years ago to preserve the unique & vital riparian natural habitats that meander through the city. The large criminally inclined, vagrant, illegal-camper, substance abusing homeless population living in the city’s creeks makes an absolute mockery of the intent and actions implemented by SLO decades ago to ensure the health, sustainability, and safety of our special natural riparian ribbons.


23

Imagine leading such a pathetic existence to where you’ve gotta complain about people without shelter and what options they have and are running out of during inclement weather.


-18

As far as returning to the creek bed, these people pollute the stream bed. The department of fish and game are quite active when looking for violations from farmers and landowners when they can sue civilly for streambed issues and recover damages to fatten the coffers of DFG. But, they seem to care not for streams if they can’t extract any money. Where is DFG? Are they too lazy to patrol the streambed and take enforcement action?


How about a response from DFG. Or maybe our legislative representative in Sacto can get an answer to DFG’s inaction.


85

Look, any pollution of the stream is bad, but with the limited resources the DFG has, I can understand why they’d prioritize enforcement against farmers and landowners that have the knowledge and resources to know better and do better, and are typically flaunting the law to increase their profits, versus people just trying to survive on what little they have. Also corporate pollution happens on a much bigger scale and impact than what is caused by some people living under a bridge.


-69

I’m surprised the elected officials and police have not swooped in and removed them because of the bad imagine it puts out to the tourists in the future as Government cares about power and money and nothing else and you are a fool if you don’t think that is true!!


22

Let’s stop wasting money on bike lines and build more shelters!


30

The shelters already exist. They are surplus older cruise ships, container ships, and barges near the end of their useful life. Re-purpose them, moor them offshore, and fill them with the housing-challenged folks who are habitually in violation of local camping, environmental, and loitering laws. They can work by assisting in operating and maintaining the various systems on the ship. Wholesome nutritious food would be provided, and some ship residents would work preparing meals in the galleys. Some folks would be responsible for fishing. Counselors and medical personnel would visit the ships several times each week to provide care. Severe mentally ill patients and recidivist criminals would be triaged to appropriate land-based mental health centers and prisons. The remaining folks would be afforded an active & healthy lifestyle learning useful new marketable skills on the ships. Lots of fresh air, productive work and an absence of drugs and alcohol would restore health and fitness to their minds and bodies. As lives are rebuilt, skills acquired, and addictions overcome, shipboard residents would be re-integrated back into society on land with job placement opportunities and housing as they become available.


12

“moor them offshore and fill them with the housing-challenged folks who are habitually in violation”

“Lots of fresh air, productive work”


Congratulations you invented floating concentration camps.


Arbeit macht frei


-7

Who cares…if they can’t be productive members of society, why should people tolerate their malfeasance? Get a job and contribute or be banished.


4

“or be banished” You can’t “banish” American citizens we have a constitution.


0

Judging from your frequent angry comments here, you have way too much time on your hands being concerned with the activities of the homeless to be a productive member of society yourself. Can we banish you too?


-3

Why not move them to the front yards of all officials who refuse to adequately address the issue and who’s only answer is to throw even more at it, or don’t we have plenty of unused goverment offices, since many are still working, or not, from home?????


113

So you are suggesting that we have the police forcibly detain and move citizens against their will to private property and somehow force them to stay there, in a massive violation of the constitutional rights of both the homeless people AND the private citizens who own that property? Exactly what law would support this sort of fascist police action? What’s next in your plan, homeless concentration camps complete with “showers”?


-53

What is the solution? The touchy-feely approach has clearly failed. Where do we go from here? I’m not being hostile, I’m honestly asking. What is the answer?


39

“The touchy-feely approach” Wtf.


-8

As Jesus one said; screw them that are less fortunate and have lost their way.. Wait a second. I may have that a bit wrong. Maybe the Christian’s here can help me to get to get it straightened out.


-2

No, it’s take their money “tithing” to the money lenders then “screw them that are less fortunate and have lost their way.”


0

Then complain how much money it costs and all that smaller gov bullshit.


Fascists want to make labour camps of “undesirables” (German: unzuverlässige Elemente),


-3

How about gated cities, just like medieval times? No legit productive business, no entry.


3

“No legit productive business, no entry”


Lol So no tourist’s, mormon “elders”, priests, mlm sales, people looking for lunch or random shoppers. Now pay 100% of taxes including all of the cost to secure the perimeter/maintain infrastructure without outside public funds.


Private gated communities are a thing, gated publicly owned cities are unconstitutional.


Also: “Gated and walled cities are as old as city-building itself. Contrary to popular belief, the walls around these settlements were seldom to protect against external invaders but rather to guard against the local villagers who might turn on the baron at any moment. Tribespeople often rebelled against their masters for real and imagined grievances. London had no police force until the eighteenth century, so people of means forted up to protect themselves and their clans from the savagery of the local population. “


-7