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With complaints about growing homeless presence, San Clemente council looks at enforcement options

March 31, 2023

To address public safety and nuisance issues, San Clemente leaders say they are looking for a broader approach to enforcing the city laws among a growing homeless population congregating at its beaches and in canyons, around the downtown and at RV parks.

The City Council looked at hiring a private security firm to establish a more visible presence as a deterrent to bad behavior being reported at North Beach, including at the Metrolink train station platforms and the trailhead leading to the popular beach trail.

Councilmembers said they’ve become increasingly concerned by reports from residents of illegal activity happening on public property. Complaints have included alcohol and drug use, smoking, littering and indecent public exposure, they said, especially in the beach area and along streets in San Clemente’s downtown. A host of complaints have also been lodged about illegal parking in some of the towns’ camping and RV areas and in neighborhoods between Avenida de la Estrella and Avenida Calafia, officials said.

Duane Nichols, 64, at North Beach in San Clemente on Thursday, March 30, 2023. According to Nichols he has been living at the North Beach location for 6 years. The San Clemente City Council is considering hiring security services to deal with a growing homeless community. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

A woman sleeps on the sand at North Beach in San Clemente on Thursday, March 30, 2023. The San Clemente City Council is considering hiring security services to deal with a growing homeless community.(Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Duane Nichols, 64, right, sits in his wheelchair with his dog Axel as he speaks with another man living at North Beach in San Clemente on Thursday, March 30, 2023. According to Nichols he has been living at the North Beach location for 6 years. The San Clemente City Council is considering hiring security services to deal with a growing homeless community.(Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Duane Nichols, 64, sits in his wheelchair with his dog Axel at North Beach in San Clemente on Thursday, March 30, 2023. According to Nichols he has been living at the North Beach location for 6 years. The San Clemente City Council is considering hiring security services to deal with a growing homeless community.(Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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Councilmember Gene James prompted a last-minute meeting to discuss hiring the security firm, but some of his colleagues were more interested in seeing what the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, which the city contracts with for police services, could do, along with adding more city resources such as code enforcement officers and rangers while still looking at private security contractors and possible bids for their services. City staffers will be getting back to the council with options at its April 18 meeting.

Julie Crandall, who said she represented the group Disability Rights of California, told councilmembers using a security agency and “targeted enforcement will hurt unhoused people, many of whom are disabled. This proposal hurts San Clemente and subjects them to targeted discrimination.”

James is proposing a 60-day trial period using Gatekeeper Security Services, which he said the city of Oceanside has used with success, to patrol the impacted areas and supplement what the Sheriff’s Department can’t devote time to, he said.

Gatekeepers would charge about $130,000 per month for its services, including four people on patrol at all times. A San Clemente resident operates the company.

“Our primary purpose is public safety,” James said. “There are certain standards by which you expect to live. Defecation on the sidewalk and urinating on the street are not part of these standards.”

James said he has been working with Rick Loeffler, chair of the city’s Public Safety Committee, to develop solutions. He’s also spoken with residents of the North Beach area and listened to their concerns.

“There is a significant gap in services between what the Sheriff does and what needs to be done,” James said. “We’re looking at a low-cost solution, hiring security officers is a low-cost solution. Many have aspired to live in San Clemente. You save money, work hard and arrive here because it’s a special place. We need to keep San Clemente special.”

Loeffler, who said he went as a resident, toured Oceanside in December with James to look at what the security contractor had accomplished there.

“I do think they’d be effective,” said Loeffler, who has 37 years of law enforcement experience. “This wouldn’t be an alternative to OCSD, they do a great job, but they can’t allocate people to go to a specific place and stay there for several hours.”

Loeffler said the difference in Oceanside was apparent and he believes “simply providing a presence” is a deterrent.

“They are trained about engagement and serve as an ambassador,” Loeffler said, adding that many of the company’s employees are military veterans or those still on active duty.

According to the county’s most recent point-in-time count, there are about 100 people considered homeless in San Clemente.

In 2019, as the number of people creating makeshift shelters at North Beach and the train station grew, the council approved an ordinance prohibiting camping on public property, but designated a city-owned parking lot not far from North Beach for people to use. It was later closed to camping.

Since then, problems with city code violations have ebbed and flowed, said Mayor Chris Duncan, who said he thought there was a lack of “real specifics about the security firm” proposal.

“We did not have a lot of time to vet the company,” he said. “It made sense to take a step back and do a thorough review where staff presents options to us to improve the quality of life for our residents.”

Duncan agreed there is urgency in getting the issues under control, and the council is aligned on addressing residents’ concerns, especially as summer approaches and more people make use of the city’s beaches and trail and visit the downtown.

“It’s a big problem,” Duncan said. “People don’t feel safe and their general quality of life has been affected. In the last few years, it’s gotten worse.”

Duncan said a comprehensive approach is needed to address issues on a “global level and not just push it from one place to the other.”

“Let’s increase funding for OCSD and increase funding to the staff so we are in a position to address this in a comprehensive way,” he said. “My default – if we’re spending money – is do it with people who are in a position of authority.”

“This is about enforcing laws and codes, it’s not about homeless people,” he said. “It’s making sure everyone and everybody is safe. This is a serious situation.”

James said he doesn’t expect to be dissuaded from his idea of the 60-day trial with Gatekeepers and he believes city staff will come to the same conclusion that this is a unique service not readily found.

“No security company has taken on this as a specialty,” Loeffler said. “It’s unique.”

Kathy Esfahani, chair of the San Clemente Affordable Housing Coalition, who said she lives just above North Beach, called the effort for increasing enforcement a “manufactured emergency” and criticized the council for not looking at other solutions.

“The really bad part was no council member said the solution we need is shelter or housing or safe parking,” she said. “The only identified solution was more law enforcement.”

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With complaints about growing homeless presence, San Clemente council looks at enforcement options

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