Santee Adopts Pro-active Approach to Transient Issue

The city of Santee has taken a proactive approach with transients who set up illegal camp sites along the San Diego River and other greenbelt areas.

While efforts are made to connect the homeless to food, shelter and social services, the city actively discourages people from living permanently in the riverbed.

Transient encampments cause a host of problems, including increased risk of wildfires, pollution of the river from human sewage and garbage, and the perception that the community is not safe.

Sweeps Conducted Every Two Months

Deputies from the San Diego Sheriff’s Dept. conduct sweeps of the riverbed approximately every two months to locate illegal camp sites and tag them with eviction notices.

“We give them notice that they are trespassing and allow them seven to 10 days to vacate and remove their property,” said Deputy Mark Snelling with the Community Oriented Policing Unit. “If they are present when the deputies are tagging the camp sites, we can cite them for illegal camping.”
When deputies return a few weeks after the initial sweep, anyone found living at the tagged camp sites can be arrested for trespassing.

“Sometimes they move and sometimes they don’t,” Snelling said.

 43 Citations Issued in First Half of 2013

In the first six months of 2013, the sheriff’s deputies in Santee issued 43 citations for illegal camping.

After deputies have issued the illegal camping citations, the Santee City Attorney’s office pursues the charges by appearing in court to prosecute the illegal camping and related offenses. 

“This enforcement mechanism is an effective way to address issues of local concern and is a vital part of an overall strategy to ensure the high quality of life enjoyed by Santee’s citizens,” said City Manager Keith Till. “We strive to address conditions detrimental to public health and safety by actively enforcing the municipal code though the criminal prosecution of code violations.”

In addition to prosecuting illegal camping citations, the city’s attorneys obtain “stay away” orders prohibiting transients and chronic campers from returning to the riverbed in Santee.  Judges have the discretion to ban repeat offenders from re-establishing camp sites in same geographic area as a condition of suspending a fine or a jail sentence.

In addition to legal services, the city also incurs costs to have public service staffers clean up the camp sites in the riverbed after the transients have left.

“It’s very labor intensive, basically all hand work with pickup sticks and trash bags” said Public Services Supervisor Sam Rensberry, who cleans up the sites with help from another staff member. 

“I can’t sugarcoat it. It’s hot, sweaty and disgusting,” Rensberry said.  “The smell is terrible. There are ants, bugs, human waste and sometimes needles left behind.”

To comply with recent court rulings, the city takes any personal property left behind by illegal campers to the public services headquarters.  If it is not claimed in 90 days, the property is thrown away.

 Transient Population Difficult to Estimate

It’s difficult to estimate the number of people camping in the riverbed at any given time because the population is constantly in flux, said Deputy Snelling.

Volunteers with the Regional Task Force on the Homeless inspected Santee in January and tallied 18 people living unsheltered or in their cars. However, at least one local official estimated there may be 30 to 35 people illegally camping in the riparian area along the river.

A survey in April 2013 by the San Diego River Park Foundation identified 160 active encampments along 30 miles of the San Diego River from the El Capitan Reservoir to the Pacific Ocean.

Authorities say the population of illegal campers generally falls within three categories: Chronic homeless who do have local families or connections; transients who hopscotch from city to city; and alcoholics and drug addicts who can be as young as teenagers.

 Most Do Not Have Violent History

“Most of the people camping in the river bottom have alcohol and drug dependency issues, but for the most part they do not have a violent history,” Snelling said.  “There is a criminal element that lives out there, but it’s a minor percentage.”

 Transients camping along the river are themselves at risk. They can be swept away by flash floods. Their living conditions are basically unsanitary. They are also vulnerable to being assaulted.

“There has been more violent crime committed against the homeless than they have perpetrated themselves,” Snelling said.

 The San Diego River Park Foundation, a nonprofit conservation group, has been documenting the effects of homeless encampments along the San Diego River for more than a decade.

Rob Hutsel, the foundation’s founder and executive director, said the encampments have been found to be a “significant source” of pollution to the river.  The foundation’s most recent survey estimated that transient camps along the river account for 35 percent of the trash sites and 71 percent of the trash volume by weight.

“Over the years, our volunteers have come across significant numbers of hypodermic needles, latrine sites and other public health issues, and numerous fires have been started where people are living along the river,” said Hutsel. “We want to get people the assistance they need so they aren’t living in this condition.”

Public May Comment on Proposal for 70-foot-tall Toyota Dealer Sign

The city of Santee has initiated a 30-day public review and comment period on a “negative declaration” issued in connection with a pending permit to erect a 70-foot-tall electronic sign at a Toyota dealership at Fanita Drive and State Route 52.

Toyota Certified Center on Fanita Drive

The Toyota Certified Center of Santee at 8871 Fanita Drive has applied for a conditional use permit to erect the sign, which would be visible to motorists from both State Route 52 and State Route 125.

Written comments on the environmental document, which will be accepted through August 12, may be emailed to the city at kmallory@cityofsanteeca.gov,  or by mail directed to: Department of Development Services, Santee City Hall, 10601 Magnolia Ave., Santee, CA 92061

City planners concluded that the illuminated sign would not result in significant environmental impacts and noted in the document that the sign’s orientation towards SR-52 will minimize “interruption of community-level views to hillsides and ridgelines.” The sign would be approximately 20 feet higher than a 50-foot-tall flag pole already at the dealership.

The sign would be an illuminated digital message board similar to signs used by other car dealerships in the county, including one by the same dealership in El Cajon.   The sign proposed for Santee would be 16.5 feet wide and 19.5 feet long, creating 321 square feet of advertising space on each side of the sign.

The interior portion of the sign would include an LED screen about 8.7 feet by 17.3 feet

The pole holding the sign would be mounted on a 5-by-3 foot base that would be decorated with tile.

The City Council will consider approval of the negative declaration when a public hearing on the project is scheduled later this year.

The negative declaration may be viewed online by clicking here.

Help Santee Recycle

Chances are there is something in your garbage can that isn't really garbage. More than half of what the typical consumer throws away can be recycled, reused or converted into new products.

Senior Analyst Ed Ruiz likes to recycle 

Waste prevention and recycling programs have been in place since 1989, when the state asked local governments to reduce half of the waste stream going to landfills.  Santee exceeded that diversion requirement, as did the rest of the state, which achieved an overall recycling rate of 58 percent.

Last year, the state raised the bar by asking cities to divert at least 75 percent of their waste from landfills by 2020.

To meet the new goal, Santee needs residents and businesses to be more vigilant when it comes to recycling.

Here’s what you can do: Take another look at your trash.  Are there items that can be recycled?  If so, it's time to separate them.

Yard waste, which makes up a large part of California's waste stream, can be recycled in your own backyard through mulching and composting. In addition to saving landfill space, you'll save on buying fertilizer.  Placing vegetable food scraps in a compost bin can also reduce your volume of garbage.

Make recycling a habit at home and at work.  To learn more about what can be recycled, call Waste Management Inc. at (619) 596-5100 or Santee City Hall at (619) 258-4100 Ext. 128.

Santee’s Bird of the Month: Wood Duck

Male wood duck at Santee Lakes

With its ornate plumage, the male wood duck (shown here) is among the most easily recognized waterfowl species in the U.S. As is true throughout most of the bird world, the female is more drab because of the need to be camouflaged from predators.

Unlike most waterfowl, wood ducks perch and nest in trees. They are one of the few duck species with strong claws that can grip bark and perch on branches.

Wood ducks feed primarily on plants, but will also consume seeds, fruit and insects.

We’re fortunate to have a year-round population that resides near Lake 5 at the Santee Lakes Recreation Preserve. These birds nest in holes in trees or in nest boxes put up around the shoreline of a lake.