Salinas prepares to ban RV parking, taking another swing at the homeless.

The headline in the Salinas paper had the facts right: “Salinas considering ordinance on oversized vehicles.” But still, I’d like to rewrite it and I’d do it like this: “Salinas considers new way to screw with the homeless.”

The ordinance, floated by Salinas Councilman Steve McShane (who represents the South Salinas district I live in) and with backing from Councilmembers Kimbley Craig and Tony Barrera, would prohibit the parking of oversized or recreational vehicles 20 feet in length and 7 feet in height on streets, public rights of way and on city property. It went through its first reading when City Council met on June 5, and faces a second reading and possible vote at a June 19 meeting.

McShane has been working on this since August 2017, but its most recent introduction came about a week after the city announced it would end its memorandum of understanding with the county by which the two entities operated an overnight shelter for the homeless. The shelter, on Alisal Street in Oldtown, was always meant to be a temporary solution as the county made plans to open a permanent shelter closer to Natividad hospital. But the county whiffed it, announced it was going to extend the temporary shelter and effectively make it year-round, forcing the city to play its hand and withdraw support.

So with no permanent shelter in place, with most of the county services being located in Salinas, and with a rising population unable to afford rent (which in Salinas rose by 9 percent last year, with a one-bedroom apartment going for about $1,400), many people are living in their vehicles or in ramshackle RVs. They amass on Kern Street, they gather in the Sherwood Hall parking lot, they park in neighborhoods. Some leave garbage when they depart. Some vehicles are in such bad repair they leak sewage out of their waste tanks. And some just dump wastewater, feces and urine into the streets or parking lots.

Of course it’s not an ideal situation. Living in a vehicle isn’t ideal, having that vehicle leak sewage isn’t ideal and purposefully letting urine and feces dump out in the streets or into the storm drain isn’t ideal. That oversized vehicles parked in neighborhoods create hazards for pedestrians and drivers who can’t see around them while walking or driving also isn’t ideal. It’s dangerous. Reasonable people can all agree on this.

But when the city says it’s not a matter of targeting the homeless, they’re being disingenuous.

“Do you feel we’re targeting any one group?” McShane asked Salinas City Attorney Chris Callihan. “Is this opening us up to potential issues down the line?”

To which Callihan responded: “I know that folks want to turn this into a homeless issue, but this isn’t about homelessness. If the council adopts this ordinance, this does not make people homeless… it does not force anyone to live on the streets.”

That’s when the booing from the audience commenced.

There’s already code in place to cite RVers who illegally dump sewage, whether because of equipment malfunction or on purpose. Councilman Scott Davis noted that citing people who may be unable to pay the fines is tantamount to passing an ordinance that has no teeth.

One man who lives in his RV told the council that while there are RV parks in the area (and outside of Salinas city limits), none of them will accept RVs that pre-date 2008. He’s on a fixed income and can’t afford to rent a place. Still, he advocated for towing of RVs that lack proper registration or that leak sewage.

“I’ve tried. I’ve tried to rent a place and get rid of my motorhome,” he said. “If you put us on the streets you’re going to have more people on the streets. You’re going to have more problems.”

So I’ll go ahead and answer McShane’s question in a different way than Callihan did.

Yes, Steve, with this ordinance the city is targeting one group. You’re targeting poor people.

“I don’t hear any solutions,” one woman commented.

And to her I say, yeah, me neither.

MARY DUAN writes The Local Spin for the Weekly. Reach her at maryrduan@gmail.com