SAN JOSE PLACED people swept from its largest homeless encampment in motels earlier this year, but neighbors near one location are raising safety concerns.
Residents near the Bristol Hotel at 3341 S. Bascom Ave. on the border of San Jose and Campbell said RVs have appeared near the motel since homeless people began living there in August. They have also found syringes and abandoned shopping carts near the motel, according to photos viewed by San José Spotlight.
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Neighbors said they found wiring cut from electrical access boxes, leading to four street lights going dark near the hotel.
“Since the opening of the Bristol Hotel homeless shelter, the immediate neighborhood — previously quiet and family-oriented — has seen escalating public safety, sanitation and infrastructure problems,” resident Rami Siadous told San José Spotlight. “I’m sharing this not as opposition to helping those in need, but because our community deserves accountability and safety alongside compassion.”
Siadous said he filed four 311 reports when the lights went out on Oct. 20 and 10 days later received notice the cases had been closed, despite the lights not being repaired. On Nov. 2, he created four new 311 tickets for the street lights.
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Foley: Concerns promptly addressed
San Jose Vice Mayor Pam Foley’s District 9 includes the Bristol Hotel, a site specifically for women and children. She said the city is working to repair the wires — and there is no evidence linking the cut or stolen wires to the hotel residents. She said they promptly addressed the issues once they became aware of them and immediately removed the one syringe and shopping cart. A picture of the hotel sent from the vice mayor’s office Tuesday showed the area free of trash. The Bristol Hotel has 47 rooms and is managed by nonprofit service provider HomeFirst.
Wires had been cut from an electrical access box, causing street lights to stop working near Bristol Hotel. (Rami Siadous via San Jose Spotlight)
“Whenever concerns arise near the Bristol Hotel, my office works closely with HomeFirst and city departments to address them,” Foley told San José Spotlight. “District 9 staff, the Housing Department and BeautifySJ regularly visit the site, and HomeFirst continues to be a strong partner in property management. Our office has also offered multiple meetings with concerned neighbors, though none have been accepted.”
Housing Department spokesperson Sarah Fields said there is no proactive cleaning of trash around the Bristol Hotel because there has not been a recorded increase in service requests. It takes about six months to fix broken streetlights “due to rampant copper wire theft and vandalism,” she said.
“The Bristol site, like all of our (temporary housing sites), has a corresponding Community Advisory Council that is organized by the City Council office and supported by the Housing Department and other city departments,” Fields told San José Spotlight. “These meetings provide an opportunity for the site operator to give a community update and for neighbors to raise issues that need to be addressed.”
San Jose converted five motels to house the hundreds of homeless residents living in their RVs and tents at Columbus Park. The city started clearing its largest homeless encampment Aug. 18 and offered $2,000 and a temporary housing placement to homeless residents in exchange for their RVs. While the sweep was expected to be done in phases through the end of October, the city removed the 370 homeless residents and 120-lived in vehicles in weeks.
‘They didn’t want us here’
Catherine Davis, who was placed at the Bristol Hotel, said the area surrounding the hotel has been relatively clean.
“They didn’t want us here in the first place,” Davis told San José Spotlight.
The project generated a firestorm of opposition from San Jose and Campbell residents at a community meeting in June. One Campbell resident had qualms with the site’s proximity to schools.
“It gives a roof over our head. It’s better than living in a van.”
Catherine Davis, Bristol Hotel resident
Davis said it’s important for homeless residents to have temporary housing, even though the strict rules at Bristol have made it feel at times like a prison. She said they can’t have visitors in the hotel and are searched every time they enter the building. She had been living in her RV at Columbus Park for years before moving to Bristol Hotel.
“It gives a roof over our head. It’s better than living in a van,” Davis said. “Being at Columbus Park, we were free to come and go. There’s more rules here.”
San Jose’s zealous efforts to quickly move Columbus Park residents into motels and other temporary housing sites have had other impacts. One business owner may close her longstanding Mexican restaurant, Los Garcias, due to a drop in customers. Los Garcias shares a parking lot with the recently converted Alura Inn. Since Columbus Park residents have moved in, there hasn’t been enough parking for restaurant customers, according to owner Bernadette Garcia.
Contact Joyce Chu at joyce@sanjosespotlight.com or @joyce_speaks on X.