To the editor: Instead of evicting people in the houses along the 710 Freeway corridor, why not turn it into a “housing advantage area” (‘I’m going to resist’: Protesters who seized state-owned homes five years ago prepare for eviction battle,” April 11). I spent many years vacationing in a motor home, sometimes for up to a month at a time, with my late husband. We stayed at Kamp Grounds of America, or KOAs, and similar campgrounds across our nation. The fees were affordable and we had a safe place to park, utility hookups, a centrally located office building with restrooms, showers, laundry facilities, a pet walking and exercise area and usually a convenience store with groceries and other supplies.
The infrastructure — water, electricity and sewage — is already there along the 710. Individual lots could be provided for those living in their own motor homes. Other lots could have trailers owned by the housing authority placed there. Rents could be collected based on income, as some homeless individuals work and/or have retirement income, just not enough to get decent living quarters.
This would also allow people to keep their beloved pets. We often read of homeless people refusing shelter because they would lose their dogs or cats. There should also be community buildings along the way where management personnel, as well as the aforementioned restrooms, showers and laundry facilities, would be located.
There should be rules requiring that sites be maintained in respectable condition, not allowed to deteriorate with junk and trash. Those not conforming would be subject to having the accumulation hauled away.
It is time to think outside of the box. There are nowhere near enough hotels and high-rise buildings to accommodate the unhoused population. Building and/or converting existing buildings will take years.
We do not have years. The problem is now, and it is urgent. Let’s not evict the so-called squatters along the 710. Let them stay, charge a modest rent and give them neighbors. Evicting them only adds to the problem. We need to fix it, not increase it.
Judy Reinsma, Santa Clarita
