Building tension over county funded safe parking spot in East County

SPRING VALLEY, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) -- A new safe parking site at a church parking lot is now up and running in Spring Valley. This comes shortly after county approval of sleeping cabins minutes away in Lemon Grove.

This site opened Monday, with about 15 enrolled and 27 spots total. However, local residents say they're just learning about it. Spring Valley Community Church is leasing out their back parking lot to the county and called a meeting Wednesday night to answer questions, but people in the area feel this call for transparency is long overdue.

Inside a Spring Valley chapel, frustrated demands for transparency were mounting.

"This safe parking lot has been built to the tune of $4 million, $4 million for a parking lot," said resident Stefanie Becker. 

Becker, like many others, learned of the county’s safe parking site in the back lot of Spring Valley Community Church after it was already underway. She reached out to Pastor Steven Babbitt for reasoning.

Pastor Steven Babbitt of Spring Valley Community Church explained to FOX 5 & KUSI the benefit of the lot saying, "It gives priority to children in our school district here, La Mesa, Spring Valley. We have over 400 homeless students."

A meeting to discuss the lot was called Wednesday but faced pushback from residents. The church agreed to lease the back lot to the county for $4,600 a month. Pastor Babbitt clarified that the money wouldn't go to his church but to other Nazarene churches in need in the state.

"I’ve watched how things work and I’ve realized, you kind of can’t stop the county from doing things, but it's good if we try to find some good element of local control," he said.

The lot, used overnight, has on-site security and is said to prioritize unsheltered families transitioning into permanent homes. However, residents and business owners like Sam Asmar worry that during the day, the homeless will gather in nearby communities. 

Asmar and his family have owned a gas station at the intersection of Troy Street for nearly three decades, and he fears the county’s separate tiny home project across the street will end his business for good. The sleeping cabin project across from his business is three minutes away from the church.

"The voice of the people is just being trampled on. It's about what they want and their agenda," he said when referring to county leadership.

This lot is overnight only, from 5 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. The operators say people at the lot are thoroughly vetted and drugs are not allowed on the property. When asked if the people are drug tested, they said no but clarified that individuals are kicked out if alcohol or drugs are found.

"It's been terrible. Everyone is up in arms, everyone is nervous. The crime is already out of control," Becker said.