San Jose officials are planning to turn one of the largest homeless encampments in Santa Clara County into possibly a dog park and disc golf, also known as frisbee golf, course.
Last week, the city council voted unanimously to pursue the park and golf course idea.
Before that can happen, the city has to clear the encampment near the San Jose International Airport out, displacing the at least one hundred people currently living there, up to three hundred at certain points during the pandemic.
"I'm surprised we've been out here this long to tell you the truth," said camp resident James Pascho.
Pascho lost his job due to COVID-19, and makes a living now splitting and selling firewood.
"I keep warm, I cook a little food, and I also dry the wood out that I split to prepare it to be sold for firewood," he said.
But now the city plans to turn the 40-acre site into a dog park, public garden, and a disc golf course.
Some of the residents feel that the plan isn't a useful way to spend taxpayer money.
But the city has been under pressure from the Federal Aviation Administration for some time now to clear out the area, which is in the flight path for the airport.
According to Jeff Scott with San Jose Housing Department, encampments create trash, which attracts birds.
Bird presence around airports can be hazardous for the planes coming and going. "Bird strikes to incoming aircraft can be potentially catastrophic," said Scott. "So we certainly don't want to do anything that's going to bring more birds into the flight path."
The Housing Department is working on alternative housing for the camp's residents, but the FAA has told the city to clear the encampment by June or risk losing millions of dollars in federal funding, and the city may need more time than that.
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