Homeless encampment in West Vallejo removed by new owner after city lawsuit

VALLEJO – A longstanding homeless encampment on private property on Couch Street in West Vallejo was removed on Thursday by a new owner who purchased the land earlier this month after the city sued the previous owner last year to remove the encampment.

Contractors who said they were hired by the new property owner removed the camp at 505 Couch St. between Sereno Drive and Redwood Street but would not say what company they worked for or who hired them.

County records show that the ownership of the lot changed hands from the previous owner WFG Liquidation Corporation to a new owner listed as MAS Property Holdings LLC on Aug. 7. According to state records, MAS Property Holdings is owned by James Pierson, the President and COO of neighboring Medic Ambulance Service.

Solano County Sheriff's Office deputies arrived in the late morning with a contractor but Deputy Dale Matsuoka, the sheriff’s homeless outreach coordinator, said the sheriff’s office was not on the site to take any government action. “We are just here to protect the contractor’s equipment,” he said.

A resident of the encampment who preferred not to give his name said that the previous night around 9 p.m. someone came to the camp and told the residents that they had to leave and that the camp would be cleared in the morning. “They did not give us enough notice,” he said as he made repairs to a vehicle in preparation to move it off the lot. “We are supposed to get three days,” he said.

Sherri Kelly, who lives on the lot in a RV, was gathering some of her belongings as two men with Medic Ambulance polo shirt uniforms were working to make repairs under the hood of her RV.

“They are helping me get it running,” Kelly said. “I know it will start,” she said as she made her way to the driver's seat to try turning the engine over.

“See, we are not here to pick on anybody,” the contractor said, referring to the Medic Ambulance employees helping Kelly get her RV started. “But,” he said, “this just has got to be cleaned up, I mean, take a look.”

On the triangular lot there was a partially burned trailer that was twisted into rubble, remnants of a burned tiny home structure and trash and debris in piles all over the lot.

The city of Vallejo had been taking enforcement actions against the previous property owner to push them to address the code violations on the property for well over two years. Those actions had culminated in a lawsuit filed a year ago seeking a court order for WFG to remove the encampment.

The suit outlined 13 enforcement actions that were taken to address code violations as well as surveillance by a Vallejo police officer indicating that drive up drug sales were taking place at the location.

Last week, the city of Vallejo filed two other lawsuits against private property owners in the White Slough area seeking to compel them to remove encampments. The city has been under pressure from the San Francisco Bay Area Regional Water Quality Control Board to stop people from living near protected waterways.

But in those years little has changed in terms of shelters or alternative locations for those who are homeless to go.

Blue Oak Landing, a new supportive housing development that opened in June, has filled 74 of its units with applicants who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. But more than 1,000 applicants had signed up to request housing at the facility. A 125-bed navigation center has been delayed by location and funding problems, and a 47-unit permanent supportive housing project on Broadway was expected to open this month but there has been no clear notice of an opening date.

Kelly said she plans to move her RV to a location near White Slough. The Medic Ambulance workers and Kelly were able to get the RV started and Kelly moved the vehicle to street parking just yards away to make more repairs before taking the trip to the slough.  

After Kelly moved the RV she hurried back to the camp to collect more of her belongings before the contractor scooped them up with a loader. Other campers frantically picked through the mixed piles to find items that they could carry or cart off that would be useful in rebuilding a camp elsewhere.

Kristina Bradley of Solano County Sheriff’s Office Animal Control was on the site while the contractor was clearing it.

“We are providing pet carriers and other items that people may need to help the moving process to be a little less chaotic,” Bradley said. Animal Control regularly comes to Couch Street with food and vaccinations for pets at the encampment, she said.

Bradley said that she did not come to the site along with the sheriff’s deputies; a community member had notified her that the camp removal was taking place and that residents may need help with their pets.

Kelly has a small dog who was with her but she also has a cat that she said she had not seen all morning. “She will come out after things settle down,” Kelly said. “I’m just not sure how she will handle the new location when we get there.”