SACRAMENTO, Calif — Many North Sacramento residents are feeling fed up and out of options about a stretch of land littered with trash and homeless encampments. The area in question is along Roseville Road, on the other side of Haggin Oaks.
For 30 years, Janie and Jim Mayle and their neighbor, Brian, have lived in this neighborhood near Del Paso Boulevard. At first, it was peaceful. Over the last few years, they said they've had some unexpected people move into a piece of undeveloped land just steps from their home.
"We had to keep people out of the park, from sleeping, putting tents in the park, and they moved over into the field," said Jim Mayle.
It's also become dangerous. Brian did not want to fully be identified for safety reasons, but added his life has been threatened on multiple occasions.
"The most recent close encounter was having a man come after me and my neighbor with a machete," he said.
The land belongs to Alex Belz, who has plans to develop it into housing.
In the two years of owning this land, Belz said he's worked with city officials and law enforcement to clean up the area twice and is preparing for a third cleanup. However, he's still frustrated.
"I think it would be better if the response would be much quicker from the police department," Belz said.
ABC10 tracked 311 calls for service through the city's database. From April 2020 to now, there have been 402 complaints directly related to homelessness in the area of South Avenue and Ripley Street. In 2020, there were six calls, and in 2021, 11 calls were made. Those numbers quickly jumped in 2021 with 127 calls and in 2022 with 258 calls.
"I used to walk daily; I don't do that anymore. I walk on a treadmill in my house. We're almost held hostage," said the Mayles.
A spokesperson for Councilmember Sean Loloee's office, who represents this area, said homelessness is a district-wide problem but their staff will look into the issue and try to mitigate the problem.
"Just do something. We know you have a job to do, but we don't see it. We don't see any response," said Janie.
A spokesperson for the Sacramento Police Department sent ABC10 the following comment:
"The police department recognizes the impact that the calls from this location may be having on the surrounding community. As we move into the new year with our new Incident Management Team model with the different city departments. We remain committed to addressing these concerns in a holistic manner that not only provides dignity to our community members experiencing homelessness, but also provides solution-based results for the surrounding community as a whole."
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