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Homeless flock to Kmart lot
Council pushes for crackdown on homeless in parking lot
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The Manteca Kmart store on Northgate Drive before it closed in September. - photo by Photo Contributed
The homeless with vehicles have turned the parking lot for the shuttered Kmart store on Northgate Drive into an overnight spot to sleep.Some have even taken to using the parking lot as a 24/7 trailer park of sorts leaving RVs and other vehicles in place.They have also brought other problems including piling up trash and providing cover for illegal drug deals according to nearby frustrated residents.The Manteca City Council made it clear Tuesday they won’t tolerate the situation.Councilman Gary Singh, who brought the issue up during the council meeting, said the situation is unacceptable and that it needed to be addressed before blight takes hold and makes the property impossible to lease or sell and hurts the viability of nearby businesses.The property owners already have a no trespassing letter on file with the Manteca Police. That gives police the authority to go onto property and order unauthorized people camping and such to leave when they receive a complaint or if they have time during the graveyard shift to drive by and address the situation. Councilman Richard Silverman said he was glad to see that some officers have taken to parking and catching up on report writing in the Kmart parking lot in a bid to do double dutyThe property management firm for the Kmart location has informed city officials they will soon have a security guard on the site for five days a week for 12 hour a day.