City Seeks Solutions to Homeless Encampments in
Corona Heights and Buena Vista Park

A bird’s-eye view of Corona Heights from the east shows a trail running alongside a chain-link fence. Neighbors say homeless jump this fence at night to camp there.

By Greg Schwartz

Homeless encampments are a perennial issue in San Francisco and 2007 is no exception. Residents near Corona Heights and Buena Vista Park are once again concerned about the effects of homeless encampments in their neighborhoods.

Marianne Bertucelli, San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department’s (RPD) neighborhood services manager for the area, says the problem has been ongoing for at least the 20 years since she started her career in the department.

“Corona Heights and Buena Vista have long been favorite camping areas due to the topography and the wild nature of these places. There are lots of little nooks and crannies that make great shelters,” said Bertucelli.

“Of course the residents become very uneasy when they look out their windows at night and see the flickering of a campfire in a heavily forested area. They call the police, who come out whenever there aren’t more pressing issues to deal with.”

Bertucelli cites the city’s lack of housing as the obvious main problem and says that homeless sweeps in Golden Gate Park had led to around 80 homeless campers in Buena Vista Park in mid-August.

Bertucelli says that General Manager Yomi Agunbiade and SF Mayor Gavin Newsom are “on the right track this time. They are making every effort to get folks into housing and get them the services they need, which ultimately is the only thing that will make a long-term difference.”

Richard Magary, chair of the steering committee for the Buena Vista Neighborhood Association, says his group’s understanding from talking to citizens in the neighborhood is that there are a significant amount of homeless people camping in the area. Magary agrees with Bertucelli regarding the need for sustainable action.

“To the best of our knowledge, a sustainable approach is continuing,” said Magary. “People are contacted and offered services … but if they don’t take them [services], we feel the quality-of-life issues need to be enforced.”

District 8 Supervisor Bevan Dufty has been one of the main people working with city agencies to address the issue. His legislative aide, Rachelle McManus, says the citizens who are currently most concerned are people whose yards abut the hillside at Corona Heights and parents at the Rocky Mountain Preschool, which also faces the park.

Dufty’s office has also been contacted by people who use the tennis court below the hill, as well as surrounding neighbors who have seen some of the homeless campers walking up to the park.

“The problem for all the City agencies is that we’re talking about a steep hill covered in brush and relatively hidden from the public eye. It’s hard to navigate during the day, and at night its even tougher. If an officer fell, or was assaulted by someone, it would be a very dangerous situation,” said McManus.

McManus says Dufty does not see increased police enforcement as a sustainable approach and is therefore working with Newsom on looking at long-term solutions. McManus says that one idea in motion is to bring in goats to graze, a method RPD uses on other steep natural areas where a mower can’t get in.

“The idea is that homeless people generally camp in areas that they know don’t get a lot of attention. With better maintenance there will be better visibility, and less brush to pose a fire danger. Also, some homeless campers leave their belongings there during the day, and you’re not likely to continue coming back to a campsite when your sleeping bag keeps getting trampled by goats,” said McManus.

She also cited a second idea to build a new trail down the hill.

“The idea here is to bring more attention to the area, as well as people,” explains McManus. “This enables a positive use of the area, like hiking, and discourages the negative use of camping since the secluded hillside will no longer be as secluded. This also makes enforcement easier by providing a safer path for police officers, RPD staff and social workers to move around on when they do need to respond.”

McManus says RPD is currently working to give Dufty’s office an estimate of the cost to build a trail and that the goats will likely be in by the end of the year.

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