Grover Beach reports fewer street encampments, urges more long-term housing funding

Grover Beach — City officials told the council Monday that enforcement of a camping ordinance and two temporary housing sites have sharply reduced visible street encampments, but they cautioned that long-term funding and more housing inventory are needed to move hundreds of people from waiting lists into stable homes.

City Manager Matt Bronson said the council would receive an update on the city’s homelessness response, including a review of the camping ordinance and the two nonprofit-operated temporary housing facilities that serve the South County.

The council’s homelessness update matters because the city has invested staff time, property and budget resources and because local residents and businesses have repeatedly raised public-safety and quality-of-life concerns tied to unsheltered homelessness.

Chief Jeff Monroe of the Grover Beach Police Department credited the camping ordinance — enacted in March 2023 — with shrinking the number of camps the city finds each week. “Prior to the ordinance being in place and just after the ordinance going into effect, there were weeks where we were dealing with 30 to 40 camps on a weekly basis,” Monroe said. Now, he said, officers and community service staff typically find “about 0 to 3 camps each week.”

Monroe said enforcement emphasizes voluntary compliance and outreach, with crews visiting known sites Mondays and Thursdays and distributing a resource information page before issuing citations or scheduling removals. The city reported 75 citations since March 2023, about 50 public-works crew hours tied to response, and roughly $122,367 in debris-removal costs over that period; staff said most of those costs were incurred early in the ordinance’s implementation when encampments were larger.

The city’s two nonprofit-run temporary housing sites — the 20-unit Cabins for Change on Long Branch Avenue and a roughly 30-unit site on South Fourth Street developed with city-owned land and private philanthropic funding — were highlighted as central to the strategy. Bronson reported that, across the two locations, 181 participants had been connected to health care, about 60% (106 people) had moved to more stable housing, and the average length of stay was roughly 191 days. He also said nearly 600 people were on a combined wait list for shelter and housing services in the area.

Devin McQuade, associate director of the 5 Cities Homeless Coalition, said the shelters rely on local government support to exist. “Quite literally, none of these projects would be here if it were not for the city support,” McQuade said, noting that the city provided the ground lease and other assistance that allowed the second site to be built.

County representatives credited the regional approach. Linda Belch, deputy director for adult and homeless services for San Luis Obispo County, pointed to a 19% countywide reduction in homelessness between the 2022 and 2024 point-in-time counts and 30% drop in unsheltered homelessness as evidence that coordinated investments are making a difference.

Council members expressed support for reducing the ordinance removal notice from 72 to 48 hours — a change staff recommended to improve efficiency and better align with state guidance and grant requirements. Council consensus favored the change and staff said they would adjust operational practices accordingly.

City and county officials, and the 5 Cities Homeless Coalition, said continued progress will depend on stable, ongoing funding and more permanent housing options. Bronson noted the county had made a one-time $2.5 million allocation this fiscal year but warned that many recent homeless-response dollars have been one-time grants rather than steady revenue streams.

The council did not take a formal vote on new policy beyond endorsing the operational change to a 48-hour removal period; staff and partners said they will return with any ordinance amendments and continue coordinating regionally.

Ending note: Council members and staff praised outreach and interagency coordination while urging work to secure longer-term funds and more housing placements to reduce the existing wait list and length of stay for those using temporary facilities.