Homeless lawsuit settlement update

The City of Costa Mesa is continuing to negotiate with the plaintiffs and working to resolve the OC Catholic Worker case.

The lawsuit was filed against the City of Costa Mesa, Anaheim, Orange, Santa Ana and the County of Orange regarding the Santa Ana River trail and the individuals who were illegally camping there and were scheduled to be moved.

As part of that lawsuit, Federal District Court Judge David Carter ordered the city of Costa Mesa to provide shelter beds equal to 60 percent of the city’s last homeless count numbers. In January of 2017, the count found 103 unsheltered homeless individuals in Costa Mesa.

The City of Costa Mesa has been aggressively searching to identify appropriate locations throughout the city for potential purchase and development of a new community shelter. The city’s commitment with any location will be to design the highest quality facility that is securely operated, free of loitering or neighborhood disruptions and any impacts to the greater Costa Mesa community will be minimized.

By opening the required 50-bed community shelter, the city will avoid further litigation, and the court will allow the city to put a heightened focus on the city’s anti-camping laws and apply a much stricter enforcement.