As Orange County cities put more effort into policing their homeless populations, Laguna Beach officials worry their canyon shelter and its day programs will see an uptick in people needing services the beach town can’t afford to fund.
Recently, the Laguna Beach City Council discussed the programs surrounding its Alternative Sleeping Location on Laguna Canyon Road, with City Manager Dave Kiff and Police Chief Jeff Calvert saying they anticipate an increase in people seeking services in town, especially as other cities have stepped up enforcement of anti-camping laws.
In addition to an overnight shelter, there is a daytime program where people can pop in for a shower, do laundry and eat.
Kiff said he expects the costs to run the shelter and its programs to increase. The city now pays around annually $400,000 to contract with the Friendship Shelter for the overnight shelter and another $100,000 in programming. The Friendship Shelter said the total cost is $1 million, and they pay the other half, partially with grant funding. But, with the recent slew of federal cuts rolled out, city officials worried the grant funding could go away, which might leave the city on the hook for more.
Those running the shelter said their data doesn’t support what law enforcement and the city manager see. They said there have been no increases in people seeking services due to crackdowns in other cities.
“Thirty percent of people that come here for the day program never return,” said Andrew Gonzalez, program manager at the shelter. But he said about 60% of those sleep in the surrounding canyons and open space.
To dial in what’s happening at the shelter, the City Council agreed to form a subcommittee that will include the mayor and a council member who, along with the city’s staff, will review the shelter, its services, and its future.
The city’s contract with the Friendship Shelter ends in July, so the council also recently agreed to extend it for up to six months. After that, it will go through a standard request for proposal process.
Among the challenges the police chief said he sees is the impact on the department’s Park Ranger program, which is tasked with making sure the town’s beaches, parks, and neighborhoods are clean and safe and recently included homeless outreach. The rangers are kept busy with the influx of summer visitors to the beach town, and now Calvert said they’re responsible for calls at the canyon shelter, noting a 54% increase in calls since the summer.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a case out of Grants Pass, Oregon, that cities can enforce bans on homeless people sleeping in public spaces, leading several to already tighten their anti-camping rules.
“Grants Pass significantly altered the landscape of homeless management,” Calvert told the Laguna Beach City Council at a recent meeting. “We have 50 new homeless since the ruling in 2024. In interviews, they said they are directed to the ASL by neighboring cities, rehabilitation services and social service agencies.”
“The surge is placing a strain on resources,” Calvert said, adding that in January, police discovered that a homeless person had ignited two wildfires near Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park.
“Park rangers have done an exceptional job enforcing anti-camping laws and maintaining a presence,” Calvert said. “I’m concerned they are becoming overburdened. We cannot allow the ASL to be the place where neighboring cities send their homeless population.”
Kiff echoed Calvert’s concerns.
“I don’t think the shelter’s resources need to be the region’s resources,” he said. “I worry we can’t be anything but Laguna focused in the long term. We’re not flush with cash.”
About 20% of the people enrolled in overnight services now have ties to Laguna Beach, and on average, it’s taking about 218 days to move someone from enrollment in the shelter to transitional housing, shelter officials said. In the past four years, 279 people have been placed in housing.
“Other cities are purposely ramping up enforcement without opening up new beds,” argued Kiff, adding that the city also has a youth shelter and a bridge shelter that assists homeless adults in securing permanent housing and income. In all, the city has about 70 beds.
“These folks will be pushed somewhere,” he said. “I don’t want to be caught unawares, and I don’t think residents want to either, as compassionate of a community as we are.”
Dawn Price, CEO of the Friendship Shelter, said she was surprised by some of the points made at the recent City Council meeting.
“Our program data shows no increase in people,” she said. “No increase in the number of people trying to access the ASL, no increase in our day program, which is a drop-in program. We understand there’s a lot of anecdotal assumptions, but not data showing any changes in homelessness activity.”
Price said, comparatively, in 2009, before the city opened up the shelter, beaches and parks were overrun with homeless encampments.
“We don’t have anything like that today,” she said. “Nor have we seen anything like that in the past few years. We’re a little unsure why that idea persists, but we don’t have any data that backs that up.”
Price said that while she’s unsure how the Police Department came up with the 54% increase in calls at the shelter, she understands their concern.
“They’re talking about the Grants Pass decision, but the decision was last June, and we still aren’t seeing any increase in demand for the ASL,” she said. “The ASL has been full since it opened in 2009, and that hasn’t changed. But the report is talking about an anticipated influx rather than an actual influx and assumes there is some attraction the ASL provides.”
Price said the shelter’s programs are essential in providing dignity for those who are moving out of homelessness, but, “it’s not anything I would cross from one city to another to access,” she added. “It’s a very bare-bones program that’s doing its best to move people out of homelessness.”
This program admits individuals for 30-day cycles, assigns them to a case manager, and requires active participation to end homelessness. Participants who remain engaged receive enrollment extensions as needed. The program also restricts access to the parking lot and facility grounds after 5 p.m. to anyone not enrolled.
San Clemente Mayor Steve Knoblock said he understands Laguna Beach’s concern and says it’s likely some of his city’s homeless people might take advantage of Laguna Beach’s services.
“They’re a magnet. It’s like ‘If I’m not welcome here, I know they’ve got a shelter up there,” Knoblock said, noting a decrease in homeless tracked around his town. “The beach is just as warm up there as it is down here.”
In Newport Beach, Mayor Joe Stapleton, calls the Grants Pass ruling “the single biggest game-changer for the city when it comes to dealing with the homeless.”
In October, before Grants Pass went into effect, Stapleton said 13 people lived beneath the Newport Pier, where they had been sleeping for years. Now, there are zero. In two years the city’s recorded homeless population has dropped from 94 to 11, he said.
“When they’re arrested in Newport Beach, we’ll either continue to arrest them, or they’ll find someplace else to go, or they’ll go somewhere where they can get the services they need,” Stapleton said. “We’re not going to be a safe haven for criminally homeless.”
On Thursday, April 3, the vibe at the Laguna Beach shelter was mellow. A few enrolled people hung out inside, tidying their belongings and working on plans for their next steps. Nine people showed up for the day program.
Among them was Darcie Mostjo, 53, who said she’s been staying overnight at the shelter since Nov. 4. She came to the shelter from Lake Forest, where she’d been sleeping near a bus depot.
“It’s been so helpful,” she said, adding that she came to California in 2023 after spending years sleeping in her car in Colorado. “I’ve been through so much and this place allows me physical rest. I can see all my doctors and specialists. I’m so grateful to be here and get this support.”
Now, her goal is to get services, including a voucher that could help her pay 30% of her rent once she finds housing. She recognizes that the process takes a while and getting all her paperwork in order doesn’t happen overnight.
“I don’t want to be homeless and I do need help,” she said. “I’m patient.”
Price said that if the shelter were to close down or its services were to be dramatically cut, she believes the impact on the community would be much more negative.
“It will put a strain on the city’s emergency services,” she said. “Where will we tell people to go if they need services?”
“It’s very expensive for us,” said Councilmember Sue Kempf, who, along with Mayor Alex Rounaghi, will look at the next steps, including how long people are staying there, how many are placed and how many are repeat patrons. Both, like the rest of the council, agreed the shelter should continue, but said there could be improvements.
And they’re well aware of some of the city’s other priority projects, such as undergrounding powerlines and doing more fuel modification.
“If you expect every city to do something, it doesn’t happen except for here,” Kempf said. “It frustrates me to no end.”
Kempf also said she gets emails and comments from residents about “homeless doing things they shouldn’t be doing.”
Rounaghi said there shouldn’t be a “false choice between public safety and homelessness,” but he added that the assumption of “the way we’ve done it is the best way — I don’t buy that.”
“I think we should step back,” he said, “and assess our goal as it relates to homeless services and what the metrics are that achieve that.”