South County Report: Hotel Project Marks Inflection Point for Chula Vista Homelessness Efforts 

Tuesday morning, an assembly of Chula Vista city leaders and local builders of affordable housing stood in a row in front of a dilapidated motel near the Palomar Street trolley station. 

The group of eight dignitaries donned hardhats, squinted toward a bank of news cameras and plunged shovels into a pile of dirt placed photogenically on the asphalt parking lot. 

The groundbreaking ceremony for a project that will convert the former Palomar Motel near Chula Vista’s southwestern border into 27 units of permanent supportive housing for homeless people took all of five minutes. 

But the significance of the event loomed large at a time when city leaders across San Diego County continue to struggle to resolve the region’s persistent crisis of homelessness. 

For Chula Vista leaders, the kickoff to what will become a publicly financed permanent supportive housing facility marks the capstone of a recent string of initiatives that leaders described as an effort to create a multi-tiered system for helping homeless people transition to stable lives. 

Over the past several years, the city has formed a dedicated homeless outreach team of city employees and police officers, built a 62-unit transitional shelter, provided rental support to people at risk of falling into homelessness and adopted encampment restrictions. 

In addition to the Palomar project, the city has contributed funds to other affordable and supportive housing projects, including a 96-unit project that opened in 2023 with 24 units designated as permanent supportive housing. 

Mayor John McCann said completion of the Palomar project – to be called Palomar Point when it opens early next year – will add to a network of city services that aims to help homeless people at every step of their progression from the streets to long-term stability. 

With that network established, McCann said, the city now can turn its attention to setting new goals and embarking on new proposals to help homeless residents. 

“We were very persistent in making sure that we had a good plan and were able to get the funding,” McCann said of the city’s efforts on the Palomar project. Now, he said, “We’re continuing to look at how we can get better. I would like to see us continue to expand our collaboration with nonprofits like the San Diego Rescue Mission.” 

City housing staff spent the latter part of last year soliciting feedback from residents in preparation for drafting a new five-year plan that will guide the city’s efforts to help its roughly 400 unsheltered residents, as tallied in a recent regionwide count. 

Stacey Kurz, the city’s housing director, said the new strategic plan, like the city’s previous efforts, would enable officials to focus on a select number of projects. 

“We need to prioritize and focus on grants and funding,” Kurz said. 

Already city officials are looking to apply for state funds that would enable outreach workers to help people camped on state-owned land near freeways. Lack of jurisdiction over those areas has complicated city efforts to clear encampments and offer services. 

In remarks before the groundbreaking, City Councilmember Cesar Fernandez, whose district includes the Palomar project, said the area surrounding the motel is especially in need of services for homeless people. 

“When I first got elected, I realized this area is one of the top three affected areas in Chula Vista,” Fernandez said. 

The 80-year-old motel, built before much of the surrounding cityscape even existed, sits on a dusty side street near Interstate 5, around the corner from the Palomar Street trolley station. Homeless encampments perch beside a nearby freeway exit and people pushing shopping carts trudge along the street. 

The trolley station last year was the site of a protest staged by loved ones of homeless people who had died on the streets. Among protesters was the family of a young woman who recently lay dead at the trolley station for hours before passersby even noticed. 

McCann said Chula Vista’s focus on what he called “long-term solutions” that prioritize lasting stability for homeless people had enabled the city to make progress at a time when other cities sometimes struggle to bring projects serving homeless people to fruition. 

The number of homeless people in Chula Vista fell by 6.6 percent last year, on par with the countywide average, according to the most recent count. 

“It took us several tries to get funding,” McCann said of city efforts to access state housing funds to help finance the Palomar project. “We stuck with it because we were committed to create permanent homeless housing opportunities.” 

The city’s persistence included buying the Palomar Motel building in 2023 for $6.2 million, applying for $8.6 million in state housing funds, loaning $3 million to help pay for refurbishment and lining up a supply of federal housing vouchers to keep the project affordable. 

“The right pieces came together,” said Kurz. “One piece helps get another piece.” 

New Head of Port Commission Brings South County Focus 

Anne Moore, Chula Vista’s longtime representative on the Board of Port Commissioners overseeing the Port of San Diego, became the Board’s new chairperson this week, bringing a South County focus to the agency that governs much of the region’s waterfront. 

Moore, a former Chula Vista city attorney, has been the city’s representative on the powerful commission since 2011. 

In a speech at her swearing-in ceremony Wednesday at the Gaylord Pacific Resort and Convention Center, Moore expressed gratitude for the opportunity to bring what she called “good things” to South County waterfront communities who often feel overshadowed by their larger northern neighbor, San Diego. 

“Growing up in Chula Vista, I knew people who never went to the beach or the bay,” Moore said. “To me, delivering coastal access today means that development projects should bring investment and benefits to the community.” 

South County is likely to loom large on the port commission’s agenda this year as numerous projects in all three port communities – National City, Chula Vista and Imperial Beach – advance toward completion. 

Projects include beachfront improvements in Imperial Beach, ambitious bayfront development plans in Chula Vista and a recently approved plan that will expand waterfront development and access opportunities in National City. 

Moore “has a good respect and working relationship with people,” said National City Mayor Ron Morrison. “That takes a while to develop. She has gone through the wars and knows how to navigate them. I think the opportunity is there to move things forward for South County.” 

In Other News 

• The Sierra Club this week threw its weight behind an effort by the city of San Diego to halt construction of a federal concertina wire barrier on environmentally sensitive land in Marron Valley near the U.S.-Mexico border. Announcing the club’s support for a city lawsuit to stop the project, Erick Meza, the club’s Borderlands Program Coordinator, said, “We should not allow short-term political stunts to destroy a legacy of stewardship that belongs to us all.”  
• San Ysidro Health last week opened a new location in National City that will provide medical, dental and behavioral health services to lower income residents, including seniors. The 44,000-square-foot Macias Family Health Center on 14^th Street was funded in part by donations from the family of Ben Macias, a transportation industry CEO who grew up in National City. 
• South County Supervisor Paloma Aguirre was in Sacramento this week advocating for legislation that would speed delivery of state funds to fix a so-called pollution “hot spot” on the Tijuana River where a concrete barrier creates turbulence that sends toxic gases into the surrounding air. 
• South County Assemblymember David Alvarez – author of the pollution bill Aguirre encouraged legislators to pass this week – will transition to fundraising mode this weekend. Alvarez on Saturday plans to kick off his Assembly re-election campaign with an event at the Rancho la Laguna rodeo center in San Ysidro featuring a de rigeur mariachi band and, in keeping with the spirit of an election fight, some lucha libre.  

The post South County Report: Hotel Project Marks Inflection Point for Chula Vista Homelessness Efforts  appeared first on Voice of San Diego.