John Maida and Connie Clancy are just two of the many local business owners seeking answers to issues related to homelessness in the City of Lompoc.
“Got to protect the businesses in the community. The citizens are getting fed up with it,” said Clancy, owner of Lompoc Valley Florists.
“They harass all my customers. They beg for change; they beg for booze. It is just horrible,” added Maida, owner of Fiesta Liquor.
Maida says every night for the past six months, large homeless encampments pop up near his business.
“Two weeks ago, I showed up for work around 8:30 in the morning and there was a delicious breakfast in my parking lot. Someone had defecated right in my parking lot without any hesitation,” Maida told KSBY.
Wednesday evening, city and county officials, Lompoc Police and local nonprofits held a community meeting where they acknowledged the frustrations of businesses and explained how they are addressing the issue.
“We took a lot of questions from the audience about how to deal with trespassing on public property, how to get somebody help if they need help, and a lot of different things related,” explained Landon Ranck, SBACT Associate Director.
On the topic of clearing homeless encampments, Ranck and his panel of guests explained that doing so is complicated because federal law prohibits encampments from being cleared unless enough shelter beds are available.
During the meeting, police added that temporary trespassing citations can be given to homeless people residing on public property, but Clancy understands that when it comes to solving homelessness issues, there is no overnight fix.
“I know it is not just our community, it is everywhere. But there has got to be some kind of resolution,” she told KSBY.
While no resolution came about from Wednesday’s meeting, Ranck says the session was more of an opportunity to hear from the Lompoc community and use their input to develop future plans.
“We really need to hear the strategies and suggestions from the community, so we can figure out the best path to move forward together,” he added.
Maida, meanwhile, says he recognizes the complexity of the issue but admits he is tired of waiting.
“Something has got to happen because there is no way we are going to continue to deal with it,” he said.
According to data from 2023, Santa Barbara County’s annual Point-in-Time Count found 233 homeless people were living in Lompoc as of last year. County leaders say the information from this year’s count should be made available in the coming months.
