San Jose crews begin clearing homeless encampment near airport

Crews from the city of San Jose on Tuesday began clearing a homeless encampment near San Jose Mineta International Airport, but it wasn't clear where the unhoused residents will go.

Around 100 people live in the tents, campers and RVs parked along the roads, on the sidewalks and in the empty lots around Columbus Park in San Jose. Mayor Matt Mahan said in a statement the city has been working to expand safe sleeping and parking and tiny homes, but there just aren’t enough for the more than 4,500 people living on city streets.

The city says the encampment at Columbus Park poses unique dangers to the community.

First, the Federal Aviation Administration requires the city to keep the area clear since it’s directly under the airport's flight path. Second, the city is worried about campfire smoke and large amounts of trash piled up at the park.

Birds attracted to the trash pose a threat to planes taking off and landing, the city says.

Mahan’s office released a statement Tuesday expressing the urgent need to clear the space.

"Our fundamental responsibility is keeping people safe — that’s our highest priority above anything else we work on, including ending homelessness," Mahan's statement said. "There are certain cases, where an encampment is so unsafe and violating so many laws, that we can’t wait for our solutions to scale."

Earlier in the summer, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order to take down encampments on state property after the Supreme Court issued a ruling allowing governments to do so without providing an alternative.

The governor is threatening to pull funding from cities and counties not doing their part.

Pauline Torres told NBC Bay Area on Tuesday that she has lived in the encampment near Highway 87 and Taylor for six years and added that she’s been forced to move her trailer multiple times.

“We have nowhere to go,” she said. "They’re not offering any services, nowhere to go, nothing. But he says you’ve got to be out of here by noon and if not they were going to call the tow trucks and they literally stayed there until we moved."

San Jose disputed Torres' claims and said they offered services at the encampment twice in the past two weeks.

Homeless advocates say there's no good alternatives for the unhoused people.

“So they really made it pretty hostile as far as narrowing down the places you could go, instead of making more places where you could go like safe parking or places you can live,” said Shaunn Cartwright with the Unhoused Response Group.

NBC Bay Area also asked Torres if she would reach out for help or move to one of the tiny home sites in San Jose.

“They want you to give up your trailer. They want you to give up everything and it’s like after 90 days, they boot you out. So where are you going to go? There’s no solution after that,” she said.

San Jose city officials said that 10 people moved their vehicles away from the encampment on Tuesday. Police are expected to deal with the unmovable RVs on Wednesday.

San Jose hopes to clear the land by the end of the month and install a barrier to prevent more unhoused people from moving back onto the land.