A homeless encampment along a road
A homeless encampment along Great Oaks Parkway in San Jose. Photo courtesy of Patty Fishburn.

San Jose officials plan to make one neighborhood a “no return zone” for homeless people after hearing safety concerns from residents — but the mayor couldn’t confirm a date.

San Jose Action, a group of residents living along Great Oaks Parkway, met with Mayor Matt Mahan and District 2 Councilmember Pamela Campos Monday to share years of concerns over nearby homeless encampments. While the residents are sympathetic to people living on the street who need help, they said the proliferation of unmonitored camps has them scared to step out of their homes because of fires, threats and medical emergencies they face.

“It’s become dangerous for our members living in that area, they have to keep their blinds shut because homeless are peeking in. They’re stealing their water, they’re threatening and a lot of them don’t even know what they’re doing,” Patty Fishburn, a member of San Jose Action, told San José Spotlight. “We keep getting promises that the area’s going to be abated, and then it never happens.”

A nearby 150-bed temporary housing site known as Via del Oro was expected to open last year — which would trigger encampment sweeps in the area — but ongoing development setbacks have delayed the city’s response.

After hearing their concerns, Mahan told District 2 residents they should expect the encampments near Endicott Boulevard to be cleared in three weeks — and Via del Oro to open later this year. Once the site is open, the no return zone will be established.

“After those sites open and we get people into those sites we are decommissioning encampments,” Mahan said Monday.

An initial plan to expel more than a dozen homeless residents off the trail between Julian Street and Woz Way last year has expanded to include at least 11 no return zones. BeautifySJ employees and police will be deployed to such zones to ensure homeless residents and encampments don’t return.

Mahan bulked up emergency housing efforts in June, when he called for more than $30 million in Measure E funds to be applied toward the construction of more temporary shelters and safe parking sites. This was at the expense of more permanent affordable housing to move homeless residents being cleared from the waterways into temporary housing.

Though the residents in this neighborhood live in a community facilities district, where they pay a special tax of about $170 per year to finance infrastructure maintenance, improvements and “aesthetic enhancements,” encampment abatements and mitigation don’t fall under these categories.

Encampments are also blocking some authorized services from being performed in the district, such as maintenance of trees, parks, storm water drainage and landscaping, according to an email between residents and the public works department viewed by San José Spotlight.
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Campos said she confirmed residents are entitled to infrastructure maintenance because they pay into a special tax district, sparking the upcoming encampment clearing.

“I want to let you know my team and I are working diligently to identify stable living environments for those folks who are experiencing homelessness, including safe parking sites, so that we can address the problem of inhabited vehicles that aren’t just moving around from one neighborhood to another,” she said. “Because I experience what you are all experiencing.”

Contact Vicente Vera at [email protected] or follow @VicenteJVera on X.

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