Mercury News-
Up in arms over a plan members say will bring crime to their community, destroy local businesses and put everyone at risk of contracting COVID-19, a group of neighbors is suing to stop San Francisco officials from opening a sanctioned homeless camp.
The camp, which is set to open as soon as Friday with spaces for 40 socially-distanced tents, is taking shape on a vacant city-owned lot on Stanyan Street, in the touristy Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. It’s one of several tent cities officials are erecting to improve living conditions for people on the streets in the midst of the global coronavirus pandemic. But a group of residents and local businesses, taking the name Concerned Citizens of the Haight, argues the move will put the Haight community at risk.
The group sued the city in federal court Tuesday, asking a judge to stop the camp from opening.
“If the City is allowed to unsafely house a large number of people in a small space in the middle of a densely-populated residential and business district,” the lawsuit states, “the result will be a high risk of transmission of COVID19 among the Campers and among the residents, merchants, and property owners of the surrounding area.”
The California Right 