San Jose officials have homed in on a stretch of waterway to clean up debris and ban homeless encampments.
A 12-mile stretch along Coyote Creek is slated to be cleared of homeless people starting in January and an encampment ban will be reinforced following that. The areas include Tully Road to Capitol Expressway, O’Toole Lane to Corie Court, around Coyote Meadows and Kelly, Watson and Roosevelt parks.
City officials visited part of the creek last week with workers from homeless nonprofit People Assisting the Homeless (PATH) to count the population along this section of the waterway. The headcount will help determine how many people need to be moved. The count is still ongoing, and results will be known in January.
“Knowing how many people live along our waterways provides needed insight that will shape our interim housing and shelter strategies, helping us get our unhoused neighbors indoors faster by starting outreach early,” Mayor Matt Mahan told San José Spotlight. “We’ve made historic budget investments to address homelessness, and accurate data ensures we’re putting every tax dollar to good use.”