By Steven Mihailovich / Point Loma – OB Monthly SDU-T / March 6, 2025
A growing preponderance of recreational vehicles being parked at Robb Field, leading to a scarcity of parking spaces for the increasing number of visitors as the weather begins to warm and softball season gets underway, was a subject of discontent at the Ocean Beach Community Foundation’s February meeting.
San Diego Police Department Community Relations Officer James Harris said he had received dozens of emails about the situation and said he visited the parking lot three weeks before the Feb. 26 meeting. He counted 105 RVs, he said, most of which he suspected were being used as housing for their occupants.
“But they’re taking up two spots and now we’ve got 210 spots gone and that’s a real problem,” Harris said. “Plus, you don’t feel safe potentially parking next to that. I get all these complaints and I feel those complaints.”
Similar concerns were voiced in 2023 by park users Albion Soccer Club and Peninsula Youth Softball.
Police are prohibited from enforcing the city’s vehicle habitation and oversize vehicle ordinances because of continuing legal challenges, Harris said, so the only action police can take is writing citations for RVs and other vehicles parked in the lot when the park is closed between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. daily.
Police did just that at Robb Field the weekend of Feb. 8-9 and wrote 86 citations, Harris said. He added that he counted only 47 RVs there the following week.
“So people got the hint,” he said. “They moved along. There wasn’t a whole lot of enforcement over the [following] weekend, so we had a little uptick. We’ve been up to 55 this week.”
Dedicated enforcement at Robb Field to combat the issue is constrained by personnel shortages, Harris said. He added that police can field only four or five officers overnight at current staffing levels.
“We’re thin,” he said. “And we don’t go to Robb Field alone. We go in two, preferably three, vehicles, which is essentially our entire staff for the night. So we don’t get to enforce a whole lot. That’s why we’re just pinpointing. Let’s try that every other weekend for right now and we’ll see where that goes.”
Denny Knox, executive director of the Ocean Beach MainStreet Association, described an incident before a game at Robb Field on Feb. 16.
“All the parents came and saw all the campers,” Knox said. “They were afraid to drop their children off and then go back for parking. So they sort of parked illegally on unmarked spots. All of them got tickets. One place they could go was the overflow lot, but that was closed because of the RVs that are there. So it seems really unfair.”
Knox said she had sent Harris an email about the incident, and though he said he hadn’t seen it, he added “I’m happy to put a note out on behalf of you guys to [take] issue with your citations. I would like a grievance request or whatever just to [say] ‘Can we have this thing excused?’”
“[They] had no alternative to leave their kids,” Harris said. “As a parent, I’d be doing the same thing.”
It is an absolute dumpster fire at Robb Field. I went there yesterday to drop off my daughter and the only spot I could find was next to a van dweller that had taken up not 2 but 3 spots with all of her crap that she took out of the van, complete with a solar charger and ebikes. This has got to stop.
Why do they need to patrol in numbers? They often ride two to a car… both have guns, training, tazers, etc.
What are they worried about/afraid of? Are the people in RVs violent? Dangerous? Have there been cases of shootings or attacks when approaching RVs?
It’s not just the lack of parking. As a parent of a 10yo softball player, there’s no way on earth I would let her use the restrooms in the park without an adult being with her. There are constantly homeless and junkies lingering near and in the restrooms. Just this weekend there was a homeless woman someone “bathing” using the drinking fountain 10 feet from where young girls are practicing softball.
It’s an absolute mess. What could be an incredible public amenity has turned into an unsanctioned RV campground and public toilet.
Isn’t there a law about putting something in a parking space that is not a vehicle?
Some of the parking spaces could be made short term, like 20 minutes, for the drivers that are picking up and dropping off. Plus put some short term parking signs near the restrooms.