ENCINITAS — The Encinitas City Council reviewed and approved several changes to the city’s Homeless Action Plan last week to better address local homelessness, placing a greater focus on “resource-resistant” individuals who are violating local ordinances.
The Homeless Action Plan (HAP) was initially adopted in 2021 and serves as the city’s guiding document for addressing homelessness. During a June 4 special meeting, the City Council received an update on the HAP, including new data from the Regional Task Force on Homelessness’s 2025 Point-In-Time Count, and directed city staff to update several areas of the document.
City officials emphasized that the HAP should include guiding principles for unhoused individuals who have repeatedly refused services or shelter, and have required repeated intervention from law enforcement for ordinance violations like public intoxication, disorderly conduct, defecating or urinating in public, or illegal camping.
Mayor Bruce Ehlers said that many of the unhoused individuals who repeatedly break city ordinances appear to be chronically homeless and need treatment, whether for substance use or mental health issues. Sometimes, these individuals cause people in the city to feel unsafe, he said.
While they cannot be forced into treatment, Ehlers said he hopes that after repeated interactions with law enforcement, these individuals will either eventually accept services or at least stay out of the city.
“We are charged with public safety. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been threatened, and I’m a big guy,” Ehlers said. “It’s almost as though we’ve been pushing the same homeless person down our same street just to arrest them again in a day or two. It would be better if we could just get them into treatment.”
The HAP has three primary goals, which include: increasing the capacity to end homelessness in the city by developing a collaborative, community-driven approach; decreasing the number of individuals experiencing homelessness through a demand-driven, person-based response and supportive housing system; and increasing availability of temporary and permanent housing.
At its meeting, the council agreed to add a fourth goal focused on protecting community safety through increased enforcement of laws and enhancements to city ordinances, facilitating actions by the Sheriff’s Office.
The council also agreed to revise HAP Goal 3, prioritizing housing opportunities specifically for extremely low-income households, and to work toward reinstating a housing navigator on city staff.
Councilmember Luke Shaffer argued that the city has become too lenient in its approach to unhoused individuals who break the law, stating that the city should be clear that they still must follow local laws and ordinances while in Encinitas.
“It’s the time we put the teeth back into this HAP, and it’s time to draw the line on this compassion,” Shaffer said.
Local law enforcement and emergency responders discussed their ongoing efforts to support individuals who pose a public safety concern.
Capt. Shane Watts of the North Coastal Sheriff’s Station said the city’s four-person HOPE team (Homeless Outreach Program for Empowerment) continues to offer services when interacting with unhoused individuals, and that those causing issues make up a small minority of the city’s overall unhoused population.
When dealing with service-resistant individuals who are violating the municipal code, Watts said, arresting them can be a form of compassion. Since the city adopted a tougher approach to addressing violations of local ordinances, he said the department has been able to deal with these issues more effectively.
“We are always going to be compassionate, and we are always gonna offer the services,” Watts said. “In the last five months of zero tolerance, we’ve done more than we have in years past.”
City Attorney Tarquin Preziosi said the city is also prosecuting more cases than it has in the past.
“Our office is taking these cases to court, and we are prosecuting these cases. That is a change from longstanding practice, where the municipal code was not actually being enforced by the City Attorney’s office and enforced as misdemeanors,” Preziosi said.
Fire Chief Josh Gordon said that of the approximately 7,000 total calls for service received by the department in 2024, 562 were related to unhoused individuals. Oftentimes, they are medical calls or other emergency calls for the same 15 to 20 individuals, Gordon said.
Point-In-Time Count data
City officials also reviewed local data for the 2025 Point-In-Time count, published on May 20. The count took place in January, with more than 1,700 volunteers hitting the streets to speak to those without stable housing.
Individuals counted in Encinitas were grouped together with those in Del Mar, Solana Beach and San Dieguito, and included Encinitas residents sheltering at the Buena Creek Navigation Center in Vista.
The overall number of unsheltered individuals counted in this area decreased by 26% (from 123 to 91 individuals) from 2024. At the time of the count, there were also 29 individuals in emergency shelter and 15 in transitional housing.
“Based on the Point-In-Time Count, we do have an increase in sheltered homeless,” said Housing Services Manager Melinda Dacey.
City leaders noted that at least some of the individuals who make up this total are not in Encinitas, and said they would like the city to conduct its own annual count to capture data just within the local borders.
“I think we know it’s not just Encinitas. It’s Del Mar, Solana Beach, San Dieguito, and parts of Rancho Santa Fe,” said Ehlers.
City staff noted that the city also receives data about unhoused individuals being served by various contractors for homeless programs. This includes Jewish Family Service, which operates the Safe Parking Lot at the Encinitas Community Center with 25 spaces, and Buena Creek Navigation Center in Vista, which sets aside 12 beds for Encinitas residents.
The council also agreed to add several other provisions to the HAP, including:
- Continue participation in the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) and develop a by-name list of unhoused people in the city to track their progress and services for the most vulnerable
- Measure and discourage the recruitment of unhoused people from outside the city of Encinitas
- Avoid any language that mandates a housing first approach
- Collaborate with Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer’s office on solutions to address homelessness
- Create a sign-up program for individuals in the city to house people experiencing homelessness in their homes or accessory dwelling units
“There’s a lot of good in here, but we need to overhaul this,” Councilmember Jim O’Hara said of the HAP.
Councilmember Joy Lyndes stated that while there is still more work to be done, Encinitas has made strides in addressing homelessness through programs such as the Safe Parking Lot and Buena Creek Navigation Center.
“We’ve just really started this honest dialogue. It’s really a wonderful opportunity to say, ‘hey, let’s look in the mirror, and let’s figure out how to take it forward,’” Lyndes said.
According to Dacey, the city’s budget includes provisions to fund a vacant Homeless Navigator position while the city works toward filling the role. It also allocates funding for two full-time case management and street outreach providers.
John Van Cleef, CEO of the Community Resource Center on Second Street, which provides social services including food and housing assistance to residents, said Point-In-Time Count data indicates progress in the city.
“Every year, we have more clarity about what’s working and what’s needed to move forward. We have signs of progress between 2024 and 2025,” Van Cleef said. “That didn’t happen by accident. It happened because of actions taken by this council to invest in outreach, expand services, and strengthen partnerships.”
Council members, as well as Van Cleef, also emphasized that the Community Resource Center’s planned expansion, which is undergoing review by the city, is not part of the HAP. However, the project will support access to services that align with the HAP’s goals, including case management and housing services, Van Cleef said.
1 comment
Is napping in a park on a sunny day a violation in Encinitas? I thought relaxation was the main reason for public parks. (Answer is below.)
In Photo 1, what regulation is the man in black disrespecting? Not looking rich and well-groomed? Talking? Smoking? Telling the cameraman not to photograph him?
Unless these individuals have been found guilty of violating regulations, their likenesses should not be published by The Coast News editors. Otherwise the News has committed false light misrepresentation bordering on defamation.*
Misrepresenting facts and defaming individuals are grave disservices to the the afflicted and the community, as well as a strike against the paper’s reputation.
The article made me ask: What actually constitutes a violation of city code with regard to our use of the streets? Parsing the City’s scattered Q&A webpage lists: **
–Drinking alcohol,
–Urinating in public, and
–Overnight camping in parks.
(The same issues for which the Council mandated new“guiding principles”—that is, increased enforcement/a crackdown by the Sheriff Dept.)
And what is NOT a violation?
–“[T]here is no law against homeless persons spending large portions of the day in the park, or taking up any number of tables, or other park resources.” (See Photo 2 above.)
–“Panhandling is legal as long as it is done from a location where the subject has a legal right to be and is not done within 500 feet of a freeway access ramp.”
So: Drinking, urination etc., and camping are the three public violations associated with the unhoused. (And likely at least a few well-heeled downtown bar patrons.)
Lingering on the streets or in a park, appearing disheveled, or being unwanted by one’s betters are not crimes.
Editors, as a public service, would you care to report on this information so Encinitans know what is and is not allowed?
“Sometimes, these individuals cause people in the city to feel unsafe, [Mayor Ehlers] said.”
On that basis, Mr. Mayor, please immediately assemble a SWAT team to stamp out the rampant reckless driving that is destroying lives and public well-being. I can’t walk to my mailbox without being targeted by phone-gazing, speeding, careless/aggressive luxury car drivers racing to the nearby stop sign. How many precious lives have we lost already this year? Yet offended sensibilities get top priority?
Kudos to the reporter for observing the centrality of the Community Resource Center in compassionately helping people in need in our stressed economy—especially while the City’s positions remain unfilled.
And for quoting Capt. Shane Watts on the “small minority” of unhoused folks who are presenting problems to public order. That rational perspective needs to be amplified so the City prioritizes truly disastrous misconduct.
* https://www.findlaw.com/injury/torts-and-personal-injuries/defamation-vs-false-light-what-is-the-difference-.html
“Take, for example, a newspaper article about the issue of child molestation in certain churches. If the editor includes a photograph of an innocent priest, the newspaper may be liable for false light. This is because including the photograph creates a false impression that the priest is involved in molestation.”
** https://www.encinitasca.gov/government/departments/development-services/policy-planning-housing/homeless-resources/addressing-homelessness