Stockton police say homeless tents have to be cleared out to build a shelter, leading to a rise in crime

STOCKTON — A homeless shelter under construction in Stockton is forcing area homeless people to pack up and leave.

People living in tents near the shelter were given eviction notices by police and given 72 hours to pack up and leave.

The West Church Street announcements came Tuesday morning as construction on the St. Mary's Pathways Modular Unit homeless shelter enters its seventh month.

Once completed, the $17 million shelter will be able to house approximately 300 homeless people in Stockton.

“When we get these notices, we're already scared, oh my God, oh my God, we have to go,” said Cutie, who lives in a tent directly across from St. Mary's.

She, along with dozens of others who have set up their own tents and shelters, are watching the construction and hoping to get a chance to live in the shelter, which is why they are now forced to move.

“Where we lived, they did a restoration and then doubled the rent,” Misty Chamorro said. “So if me and my husband have a shared income, it’s just me and my disability.”

“I've been through one or two, and usually they clean it up and we can move, but this one is a shift,” Cutie said.

“This is an area that needed construction and obviously the need for construction played a role,” said Stockton Police Officer Omer Edhah.

Stockton police said police sent out the eviction notices Tuesday morning.

This is partly due to the construction work that needs to continue in this area to expand the animal shelter, but also for other reasons.

“Fire hydrants were damaged and destroyed,” Edhah said. “There were also some unsanitary conditions. We have also identified some gun-related crimes in this area as they affect the homeless community there and we are trying to mitigate those.”

According to the city, the number of homeless people is now nearly 2,000 people, more than double the number at the time this shelter was built.

“So they want us to go to the shelters that don’t have room anyway,” Cutie said. “Where are we going?”

“We provide them with resources and let the organizations know that we are sending out these notices,” Edhah said of the process when the notices were sent out.

The notice also includes the location and phone numbers of several shelters in the area. Some of it is available in Spanish.

CBS13 is still working to determine exactly what type of construction work needs to be done at the property that will force the notices. We contacted St. Mary's Community Services for an interview about the construction and what still needs to be done.

They were hoping to have a ribbon cutting on this shelter in the fall, but it's far from finished.