04-04-2025
Senate Bill 569 would require Caltrans to remove homeless encampments faster
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Encampments popping up along state highways may soon be cleaned up faster.
If passed, Senate Bill 569 would require Caltrans to develop plans to streamline the process of clearing out encampments along major intersections.
Those encampments can be found along Interstate 805 in North Park, which for some is a nuisance, but for others, it's all they have. It wasn't Makiya Epps' first choice when looking for a place to call home.
'I lost my job during the pandemic, and I had to make ends meet the best way I knew how,' she explained.
She went from making $60,000 a year to living in the encampment above I-805.
'People when they see us walk by, they lock their doors and stuff like that,' she said, emotional. 'We're not trying to harm you. We're really not. A lot of these people are beautiful people. They're just down on their luck.'
But, Senator Catherine Blakespear aims to streamline the process for Caltrans to clean up encampments like the one where Epps lives.
'We have a crisis of people living unsheltered on city streets and in canyons and riverbeds, and the Caltrans right of way is no different,' she said.
Senate Bill 569 would require Caltrans to develop encampment resolution plans and work with local governments to eliminate camps along state highways.
'There's just no reason that we should allow shantytowns to spring up anywhere that someone might pitch a tent,' she said.
Blakespear claims the pollution and proximity to the state roads and highways make the area unsafe for people to live. Instead, she advocates for placing the unsheltered people in tiny homes or mobile home park.
'You got people living way out in the woods somewhere living just like this, and ain't nobody bothering them, so why [are] you bothering me,' Epps contested.
Neighbors in the area complain the campsites are a nuisance, but Epps says she's cleaning the trash left behind by others one pile at a time.
'The mess…I get it. I don't want to see that either,' she said.
Epps remains hopeful in spite of her situation, and asks for one thing.
'Before you judge us, come out here and talk to us,' she said.
FOX 5/KUSI reached out to Caltrans about their plans to address the encampment, but we did not hear back.
As for SB569, it's set to be heard in the transportation committee on April 22.
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