Palm Springs closing park to address ‘health issues’: drug paraphernalia, human waste, and litter
Baristo Park on Calle Encilia in Palm Springs features playgrounds for kids, a basketball court, and picnic tables. But residents who use the recreational area have been increasingly concerned that a visit to that park may also be unsafe.
The City of Palm Springs is now planning to temporarily close the park to make some changes.
"In its current state, Baristo Park is detrimental to the health and safety of the public due to issues such as use and abandonment of unlawful drug paraphernalia, toxic and biohazardous materials such as used sharps, human feces, litter, and cigarette butts discarded throughout the park, indecent exposure, and general destruction of public property."
Communications Director Amy Blaisdell
The date of the upcoming closure hasn't been officially set, but it's expected to last about six weeks. In that time, city workers can "perform a safety inspection, implement a security plan, install cameras, and complete needed cleaning, maintenance and overseeding."
“In order to protect public health and safety, the City is taking this step to address persistent issues in the park related to a small group of transient individuals,” said City Manager Justin Clifton in a statement.
"I mean, it's, it's not safe and I know there's children in these apartments, but you definitely can't bring your kids here," said Kathy Roberts, a resident of the area.
Roberts said she often sees homeless people at the park.
"They lined the street with trucks and cars and they set up tents and they're over here arguing yelling, they have loose dogs," Roberts added.
City records show that first responders from the Police and Fire Departments have been called to the park with greater frequency in recent years. Calls for service to the park increased to 1,245 from 2019 to the present, as compared to 558 calls from 2017-2019.
The city plans to close the park for six months to make changes.
"We're going to close the park, clean up, add some security cameras, create a security plan, and do the other things that need to occur to make sure that this doesn't continue," said Justin Clifton, Palm Springs City Manager.
Addressing homelessness in Palm Springs
City Councilors are planning to discuss "options for establishing a navigation center in the City of Palm Springs," according to the agenda for their October 28th meeting.
City officials say this center could "shelter the west end of the Coachella Valley’s unhoused population and offer the kind of full suite of support services Palm Springs has long needed."
“The City of Palm Springs is committed to compassionately managing the impacts of homelessness while finding solutions in order to help our unhoused population obtain permanent and supportive housing,” said Clifton. “Building a new navigation center provides a unique opportunity to make a real impact and greatly expand our ability to serve our unhoused population while reducing secondary impacts that can affect quality of life.”
A proposed location for a new Homeless Navigation Center is 3589 McCarthy Road, which is in an industrial zone that is close to a public transportation route and adjacent to a residential area. 137 households were found within a 500-foot radius of the McCarthy Road location, prompting city officials to note "potential impacts to residential uses."
According to a city council staff report, the cost of acquiring and renovating the McCarthy Road location is estimated at more than $12 million, but it is less costly and could be completed more quickly than building an entirely new facility.
"This kind of facility could be built expeditiously and cost-effectively. So that's the appeal of one of the sites we're looking at," Clifton said.
Other locations being considered for the possible development of a Homeless Navigation Center include locations on Gene Autry Trail and E. Ramon Road.
City councilors will consider allocations from the American Rescue Plan Act (APRA) for Housing and Homelessness to assist with the acquisition and renovations of the site. The staff report estimates the funding that could be contributed by the County of Riverside at $7 million.
"This is a humanitarian crisis, and it seems to stem from a structural failure where those who are most in need have the least chance of securing shelter. Limited housing supply and low wages push the cost of decent housing further out of reach, particularly for those with low or no income," the staff report reads. "As more individuals find themselves without shelter – whether that be due to behavioral, economic, family, or medical issues – their ability to find new shelter is made even more difficult with increasing housing costs and a lack of housing supply."
Ongoing efforts to address the issues connected with those experiencing homelessness include "expanding security and maintenance in downtown and convening meetings with service providers and stakeholders to find solutions." Blaisdell told News Channel 3 in a statement, "Another important step, in August the City partnered with Martha’s Village and Kitchen to open the Palm Springs Access Center across from the Airport, a new daytime drop-in center with wraparound services for unhoused individuals."
"We're trying to get better at addressing the secondary impacts, while we also invest more substantially in helping deliver the resources that people need to lift them out of the circumstances," Clifton added.
Stay with News Channel 3 for continuing coverage.
