Chula Vista and National City leaders have approved new rules banning homeless encampments, enforceable regardless of shelter bed availability.

On Tuesday, the Chula Vista City Council unanimously passed an ordinance prohibiting encampments on and near public property. National City officials also approved 5-0 their version of a camping ban. They became the latest jurisdictions in San Diego County to embrace such policies.

National City’s ordinance takes effect in 30 days and Chula Vista’s still requires a second vote.

Chula Vista’s rules would prohibit encampments within 1,000 feet of schools, city parks, emergency and transitional housing facilities, trolley stops, transportation hubs, and open spaces like the Otay Valley and Sweetwater Valley regional parks. The policy proposed a distance of 500 feet from those locations but officials agreed a larger buffer would be more appropriate, especially in areas children frequent.

When no imminent threat is present, the city or law enforcement would have to issue a 24-hour written notice to vacate a site before cleanup. After that time, people will be able to reclaim their belongings that are stored during the process. The ordinance does not specify how long the city would hold property.

“We need to take action,” said Mayor John McCann. He added that it is “simply inhumane” to “allow people to be on the streets” and that the city has a responsibility to keep parks and other public areas clear for public use.

National City’s ordinance prohibits camping within two blocks of schools, in any waterway or natural area abutting a waterway, trolley stops and transit hubs.

The city would give a 72-hour clean-up notice and store any personal belongings collected at a city facility for 90 days.

“There is a need for our city to put this ordinance in place,” Councilmember Luz Molina said earlier this month when officials first voted on the policy. “Not only because of the governor’s executive order but also because the surrounding cities in our region will take similar measures and then that will leave National City vulnerable if we weren’t putting this ordinance in place.”

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that officials can clear encampments regardless of whether shelter beds are available, a decision that prompted Gov. Gavin Newsom to issue an executive order telling state agencies to remove tents from public land and threaten to withhold funding from cities and counties that don’t do the same.

The two South County cities had considered for months enacting camping bans akin to a partial ban San Diego approved a year ago. But they decided to wait on the Supreme Court’s June decision.

When the top court ruled that cities could clear tent camps regardless of shelter space, Chula Vista and National City leaders said they felt their cities could address homelessness more efficiently without legal interference.

Homelessness has grown consistently countywide for more than two years, including in South Bay. The number of people staying on the streets of Chula Vista jumped 58 percent in the last year for a total of 503 people, according to the 2024 point-in-time count. That same report found that National City’s homeless population spiked from 159 to 174.

According to South County officials, the rise of people on the streets has put a strain on city services because they’ve repeatedly responded to traffic accidents and vegetation fires that have started at encampments. So far this year in National City, for example, public works crews have spent about $400,000 clearing about 60 tons of debris when clearing parks, greenways and drainage channels.

Chula Vista has yet to reopen Harborside Park, which city leaders shut more than two years ago after the public space turned into a tent city and concerns grew over reported illicit activities. Dozens residing at the park set up camp at a nearby boulevard. When they were kicked out of that street, many moved by freeways. The city plans to reopen Harborside with security measures, like cameras and a ranger station, later this fall.

“This ordinance will give us the tools to help protect and keep the renovated park safe because when we do open the park we’re going to need those tools to make sure that nobody’s sleeping in the park,” said McCann, adding that the ban must be in place before the city could reopen Harborside.

Homeless advocates have repeatedly called the camping bans Band-Aid solutions.

“A ban on the unhoused (is) cruel but more importantly does not address the unhoused crisis in Chula Vista,” Sebastian Martinez said in a written statement to the City Council. “All it does is exacerbate it and make it more difficult for service providers to connect with the unhoused in need.”

Both cities say offering shelter, long-term housing options and wraparound services remains their top priority in addressing homelessness.

The San Diego Rescue Mission recently opened the first emergency shelter in National City with more than 160 beds. However, city staff said the site can only accommodate 77 individuals due to staffing levels and beds are made available to anyone in the county.

National City will use $405,900 it received from a state opioid settlement fund to provide beds for medical treatment of substance use disorder. It will release a request for proposals in the coming months.

Over the next four years, Chula Vista plans to have more than 150 long-term housing units that provide supportive services for those chronically homeless.