Residents press council on encampments; code enforcement outlines monitoring, legal options and beautification plans

Multiple Garden Grove residents told the City Council during oral communications that homeless encampments near the 22 Freeway and Newland Avenue had grown and were creating safety and property‑damage concerns.

Speakers from the public — including Kyle Mason, Paul Keat, Linda Towers, Patty Dawson, Aziz Ali and others — described trash, drug paraphernalia, an unsecured hole in a chain-link fence, fires, a recently discovered body, vandalism and theft. Several asked for clearer follow-up from the city after residents speak at council meetings and for faster action to secure the freeway buffer area. Linda Towers and others said they had provided the city with letters, photos and a management-company complaint about nearby camps and asked when previously approved security fencing would be installed.

Councilmembers and staff did not…