Paso Robles homeless cleared from Salinas River ahead of storms

Paso Robles Police Lt. Ty Lewis parked his car off North River Road on the banks of the Salinas River on Thursday, at the entrance to a sprawling series of homeless encampments called The Blocks, so named for a series of large cement blocks at the trailhead that prevent vehicle access.

Soon, Lewis was joined by other city officials, including Mayor Steve Martin and storm water manager David LaCaro. Lewis led the group into an intricate labyrinth of trails through willow stands connecting the homeless camps. Evidence of the homeless who have lived there was everywhere — piles of debris, campfire pits, tents, clothing articles, mattresses, cook stoves and tarpaulins.

The group was there as part of a city effort to move homeless campers out of the riverbed in advance of this week’s storms. Forecasters are predicting rainfall ranging from three to six inches through next week.

The North River Road camps are just a few among the 30 to 45 homeless camps that line four miles of the Salinas River in Paso Robles. To city officials, camps like this represent a looming public health and safety crisis. The trash and the estimated 70 to 90 people who live in the camps could be inundated and washed away by potentially torrential rains.

On Tuesday, the City Council approved a plan to clear the riverbed of the homeless and connect the displaced campers with resources, primarily organized through the nonprofit Paso Cares, to get shelter during the coming storm. The council also approved spending $69,000 from general fund reserves to carry out the emergency plan.

Teams of city fire, police and public works personnel have been walking the riverbed and distributing notices advising the inhabitants to evacuate immediately and remove their belongings no later than March 10.

“In the warm weather, these places are like campgrounds, but in wet weather they are not so much fun,” Martin said.

Search teams were in the field starting Wednesday morning and were finding that many of the encampments like the ones off North River Road were already abandoned.

“The word is already getting out,” said Meg Williamson, assistant city manager. “We want to get them all out of the riverbed by the weekend.”

As part of its ongoing shelter emergency planning, the city had already identified existing homeless encampments and recorded their GPS coordinates.

“When we got the go-ahead from the City Council we were ready to hit the ground running Wednesday morning,” Williamson said.

Lewis led the group to the river’s edge and soon came upon an elaborately constructed homeless cabin, complete with a woodstove inside and a source of running water from the river nearby.

“Knock, knock! Anybody home?” Lewis yelled. Two shirtless men emerged from the cabin. Lewis delivered a stern warning that the men must leave the encampment before the rains begin.

“You need to realize that this danger is real,” he told them.

One of the homeless men identified himself as Manuel Orzco. He said he had been living in the encampment for about a week and planned to report to one of the several shelters in town to get out of the rain. “After that, I plan to get a job so I can rent my own apartment,” he said.

As he walked away, Lewis said he was skeptical whether the men would actually leave their cabin and officials would need to check on them later. Public safety is the city’s primary concern, he said, and they would worry about clearing out the debris after the immediate danger had passed.

“Our primary concern is to prevent loss of life and reduce exposure to citizens and emergency responders in the event of rapidly rising water and flooding,” Williamson said.

They also are telling the homeless about support resources available to them through the nonprofit Paso Cares, which is working with several churches in the North County to provide overnight warming shelters during the storms. Paso Cares has lined up warming shelters that could accommodate as many as 40 people for each night of the coming storms, Martin said.

Paso Cares President Cherie K. Michaelson said people can’t just show up at the shelters and expect lodging, but must be referred through the city or participating organizations. She said anyone in need of shelter can call Paso Cares at 805-712-7067.

Michaelson said she is also seeking volunteers to chaparone the shelters each night. “We really need that help. Without it, this won’t happen,” she said.

The city is not planning on opening any of its buildings as shelters during the storm because Paso Cares already has its plan in place to deal with the potential crisis. On Feb. 16, The city declared a shelter crisis, which would allow officials to open municipal buildings for emergency shelter if necessary.

“If we were to experience a severe public safety emergency, we would do whatever is needed,” explained Julie Dahlen, Paso Robles’ director of Library and Recreation Services.

This story was originally published March 3, 2016 at 11:57 AM with the headline "Paso Robles homeless cleared from Salinas River ahead of storms."