Residents in an East San Jose neighborhood say they don’t know what else to do.
The city recently cleared out a line of cars occupied by unhoused people on their street, but the vehicles returned the next day.
Residents on Rose Avenue said they’re beyond frustrated. They said they’ve been complaining to the city for months and feel their complaints have fallen on deaf ears.
They said children are afraid to walk on the sidewalk. Some families don't even want their kids playing in their own front yard.
One mother who didn’t want to be identified for fear of retaliation said some people in the vehicles are outright dangerous.
"It's just scary," she said. "One of the people over there got pulled over and they pulled out hammers out of a backpack and drugs. They arrested him."
NBC Bay Area took the residents' concerns to Mayor Matt Mahan on Friday.
"I’m very concerned about it," Mahan said. "The church in the neighborhood has a preschool attached to it. The neighbors are dealing with encampments that we abate and they come back."
Mahan said abatement isn’t the cure-all and the city needs to do more in providing decent shelter and services for those living on the streets.
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He added that the unhoused people have to do their part as well by going into those shelters or treatment facilities if other beds aren’t available.
"It should not be a choice or an option to simply go camp wherever you like in the city," Mahan said.
Some people in the neighborhood said street sweeping days are also an issue.
"Very unfair. We get a $60 ticket, me and my neighbor, if we don’t move our cars," the mother said. "But those cars have been sitting there for almost a year and nothing."
In response, Mahan said, "Our policy in DOT is to treat all vehicles equally whether they are lived in or not. Parking violations need to be cited. We need to hold people accountable."
After NBC Bay Area spoke with Mahan, a city inspector showed up on Rose Avenue to document the neighborhood concerns.
