Code enforcement gives Lapis Road campers three weeks to vacate.

On a cold foggy day, an RV with papered-over windows remains parked on the southern end of Lapis Road, a county road just outside the city limits of Marina. Monterey County sheriff's deputies walk toward the vehicle, record the license plate numbers and knock firmly on its walls. It seems empty. 

Suddenly there’s a hint of movement. The person occupying the vehicle peels back blue painter's tape that's holding the window together. “I’m sick," a voice says. "I don’t want to get you sick.”

Sheriff's Abatement Officer Tammy Young approaches, and hands the occupant a packet of paper through the opening alongside the window. On top of the packet is a notice to vacate the illegal campsite.

Overnight parking and camping are illegal on this stretch of road. 

But for years, Lapis Road has been a defacto RV camp for the homeless. But due to a growing number of complaints received by separate county departments, code enforcement action has been long overdue, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

Beginning around 10am on Aug. 10, the Sheriff’s Department, alongside officials from a number of other county departments including Social Services, Environmental Health and the Office of Military and Veterans' Affairs, joined forces in an effort to clean up and clean out the area.

Vehicle by vehicle, deputies marked cars with orange vehicle abatement stickers and checked for occupants. They gave information packets to campers, like the person who reached through the taped-up window. Social Services followed code enforcement officers, gathering personal information and hoping to redirect occupants to homeless services.

Health officials came after, taking pictures and taking down notes of health hazards. They noted leaking septic tanks (an arrestable offense), scattered bags or filled buckets of human feces and urine, and abandoned gasoline and propane tanks.

“At some point, it not only becomes a public safety issue, but a health issue for those living here,” Sheriff's Cmdr. Mark Caldwell says.

Some vehicles were in such disrepair—rusted, doors ripped out, tires shredded —they were towed within 45 minutes of being marked.

Unlike recent sweeps in Chinatown in Salinas, where protests erupted as occupants' belongings were removed, the notifications to campers appeared to be made without incident, and campers were compliant with the deputies Thursday morning.

They are being given three weeks to vacate, or until Aug. 31.

Those who did answer the doors took notices to vacate and thumbed through the social services pages. Many took the time to answer questions from Social Service and Veterans Affairs representatives.

But for campers like 59-year-old Bella Maddox, who has been camping on Lapis Road for six months, local social services aren’t enough to help her out of her homelessness. Maddox has been disabled since 2003 because of degenerative disc disease. She is also diagnosed with manic depression and bipolar disorder.

Though her medications are paid for through Medi-Cal, her disability payments only total up $450, not enough for the average $75 per night fee for RV parking she says.

“$450 doesn’t go far,” Maddox says. “How does anyone expect me to move into an RV park when I can barely afford to feed myself or pay for a night?”

Maddox also says she’s exhausted her resources for transitional housing and says that the terms of many social services are strict. She claims that after living in subsidized housing for five years, she missed one house showing with housing officials and was immediately kicked out. “I tried calling them back and nothing," she says. "They wouldn’t give me a chance.”

Jorge Rojas, the Veterans Affairs representative on the ground  Thursday morning, echoed that sentiment. Around the half-mile mark on Lapis Road he had already spoken to four veterans, most of whom know they are eligible for benefits, but were disqualified in some way or another.

“I’m not surprised,” Rojas says. “Keeping benefits is like walking a fine line.”

Currently, Maddox is looking into the updated services that she received in her packet but doubts that she’ll find a place to stay.

“I have no idea where to go and I will not have any gas money until the first [of next month],” she says.

The Monterey County Board of Supervisors has been scrambling to finalize temporary and permanent solutions for a growing homeless population. Supervisor Luis Alejo has led the charge to establish a year-round shelter, and in July the supervisors approved two North Salinas sites: One is a long-term plan on Natividad Road that may not be ready for occupants for several years. The shorter-term plan is a temporary year-round shelter on North Main Street, intended to be up and running by Nov. 1.

Meanwhile, the county is seeking to launch a safe overnight parking program. On Aug. 9, the county put out a call for bids to potential operators of such a program; the deadline for their proposals to provide services is Aug. 18. 

Even on that timeline, it's unlikely there will be a solution in place for the Lapis campers by their deadline to move out on Aug. 31.