Martin Hoffman says he no longer feels safe dropping his 3-year-old son off at daycare in Rancho San Diego, after a person he believed to be homeless screamed, cursed and made threats near the property. Hoffman, who takes his son to Learning Jungle daycare inside the Rancho San Diego Shopping Center at the corner of Avocado Boulevard and State Route 94, says the frightening encounter is the latest sign of a worsening situation outside the school’s doors.
Hoffman told NBC 7 San Diego that a person on the sidewalk near the daycare screamed, cursed and made threats, an incident that prompted him to contact both the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and the county fire department. He said he has also noticed a growing number of transients in the area in recent months, which he says has come with more trash accumulating nearby. Per Hoffman, human waste has remained in the parking lot for at least two weeks, and he says a sleeping bag was even found on the daycare’s playground.
A Father’s Growing Fear
Hoffman and his wife say they now worry about the health and safety of their son and the other children at the daycare, a concern that has only deepened as the encampment activity has persisted. He wants accountability and an answer from someone addressing the situation, and he told the station he hopes that bringing public attention to what’s happening will finally push the responsible parties toward a resolution.
NBC 7 San Diego reported that it reached out to the daycare’s regional director, the property owner, and the property’s leasing agent for comment, but as of publication, none had responded. According to Hoffman, deputies with the Sheriff’s Department and firefighters told him their hands were tied because the trash and encampments sit on private property rather than public land — a jurisdictional line that has repeatedly complicated enforcement efforts in the area.
Why Private Property Changes the Rules
That distinction matters under county policy. The San Diego County Sheriff’s Office has said that deputies cannot cite individuals camping on public property unless a shelter bed is available, but private property owners can unlock stronger enforcement by signing formal trespass authorization orders that allow deputies to cite or arrest people trespassing on commercial land. Without that signed authorization from whoever controls the Rancho San Diego Shopping Center, deputies’ options at the site Hoffman describes remain limited…