Police want to install a gate at the entrance to the northernmost parking lot at the Oceanside Harbor that would be locked overnight during the busy tourist season from Memorial Day weekend through mid-September.
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“Lot 12 has been a magnet (for trouble) for a while,” said Oceanside police Capt. Scott Garrett. “We get a lot of calls for fights and drinking in the parking lot and things like that.”
Located on North Pacific Street just past a roundabout at the widest part of the beach near the harbor mouth, the multi-use paid parking lot is close to restrooms and a small market. Overnight camping is allowed in recreational vehicles during the winter, from Sept. 15 to May 15, with a maximum of five days in a 30-day period. No tent camping is allowed.
The lot is closed nightly from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. in the summer, from May 15 to Sept 15. With the gate added, the lot would be closed from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.
“It is not a perfect solution, but it is the best idea we came up with,” Garrett said Monday in a presentation to the Oceanside Harbor and Beaches Advisory Committee. Police and harbor officials will fine-tune the proposal before asking the Oceanside City Council at a meeting later this summer to approve the installation of the gate.
Committee members questioned the effectiveness of the gate.
Chair Liz Rhea said it would be pointless to install a gate only on the entrance and not the exit, because people could just drive around the gate and enter through the exit. She asked why not place gates at both the entrance and exit.
“Wouldn’t it be better to just lock that puppy up?” Rhea said. “A blockade for the entrance and not people going out is futile. It’s not going to deter people.”
“After 11 its the Wild West down there.” said another committee member. “There are fireworks going off, cars racing around. I don’t see how it’s going to solve anything unless you stop traffic completely.”
Garrett said the possibility of adding two gates was discussed, but city employees decided it would be best to leave the exit open.
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An open exit would allow people to leave the lot after 11 p.m. without assistance from a gatekeeper or law enforcement officer if they are delayed by a problem or an emergency. The possibility of installing a one-way spike strip at the exit also was considered, but was ruled out by the city attorney’s office because of possible legal issues.
A harbor employee would be assigned to open and close the gate, in part because an automated gate would be difficult to maintain in the wet and salty conditions.
Committee member Carolyn Krammer said a better solution would be to increase police enforcement. Patrols through the area end about midnight.
“We have a big homeless problem in the winter when they are allowed to camp there,” Krammer said. “Sometimes people are attacked … we are having incidents down there.”
Four people were attacked and injured with baseball bats in two separate fights near the fishing pier at the harbor on a Saturday evening in August 2024, which raised alarm in the harbor community. Two of the victims were taken to a hospital with head injuries.
Over the next few weeks Oceanside detectives arrested four people on suspicion of numerous charges, including attempted murder, assault, conspiracy, taking part in gang crimes and probation violations.
Rhea said there have been additional incidents this year.
Installation of the gate is expected to cost about $9,500, Ravitch said, and additional lighting planned for the lot would be installed for about $38,000.
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