First step taken to designate Kmart as public nuisance
Community members have reported needles, drones flying above homes and fights
WATSONVILLE >> Watsonville city councilmembers voted Tuesday to designate the shuttered Kmart on Freedom boulevard a public nuisance, a move that could force property owners to clean up and secure the area.
The Watsonville Kmart has been closed for more than a year. Since then, unhoused people have increasingly made home at the site, according to Mayor Jimmy Dutra. Community members have reported needles being thrown onto their property, drones flying above homes and fights breaking out.
“A lot of transients and people with addiction and mental health challenges moved in onto the private property and started creating their own city and on the other side of the wall were a lot of our residents,” Dutra said.
City government leaders met with Watsonville
law enforcement as well as the Kmart property owners and tenants two weeks ago. Since then, the owner and tenant agreed to put up gates, install security cameras and hire a 24/7 security guard.
City Councilmember Rebecca Garcia questioned why the designation was be necessary given that agreement.
“If we waited two weeks and they didn’t follow
through on what they said … losing two weeks to what’s going on would be disastrous for the community,” Dutra said.
The designation means that if the property owner and tenant do not clean up the site, the city could do so, and levy costs incurred onto the owners.
Eden Crem, who’s experiencing homelessness in Watsonville, spoke Tuesday. Crem said she lost her job during the COVID-19 pandemic and suffers from mental health challenges.
“I do admit that yes there are a lot of addicts who are unhoused but there are a lot of addicts who are housed as well and to lump us all into one category is unfair,” Crem said.
Crem said she’s sober, involved with her church and struggles to find a place to live in the region.
“…I don’t know where to go, I don’t have anywhere to go, I don’t have family here,” Crem said. “It would be really nice to see a wider solution to the problem, than telling us to move somewhere else.”
The City Council will return on Oct. 26 for a second vote on the public nuisance designation. According to Dutra, if the property owners and tenant move forward with securing the property, cleaning it, along with towing vehicles, the council would likely not move forward with the solidifying the public nuisance.