San Clemente looks to revitalize North Beach and address homelessness

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. (KABC) -- North Beach in San Clemente is already a picturesque stretch of Orange County but the city is trying to make it even better.

San Clemente Mayor Chris Duncan said the area is naturally beautiful but admits it's been neglected over the years.

"We want to make this an attractive place to go for everyone," he said.

"It hasn't had as much economic activity and it's a little bit of the broken window theory. When you neglect an area, people move in and kind of take advantage of that area," Duncan added. "People have come in and felt free, frankly, to violate our laws, to violate our ordinances and take advantage of the fact that they haven't really been in the public eye."

For that reason, some folks like Jess Lopez avoid the beach's popular trail during certain times of day.

"It got cleared up for a while and it seemed like the homeless are coming back, and some people I think are hesitant to walk here," Lopez said. "They're yelling or they're half-dressed and it just makes it uncomfortable."

The city is now on the ground in North Beach working to address the homeless issue.

Duncan said they've increased patrols from the sheriff's department, park rangers and code enforcement.

"Make sure that our laws are being enforced. Make sure that our ordinances are being enforced. Make sure no one is smoking, drinking, doing drugs on the beach. Things that are unsafe. We have people leaving garbage, people leaving needles on our beach," the mayor said.

He said the goal is to revitalize North Beach with new businesses and visitors.

"Get them shopping, get them coming to the restaurants and that will also improve the conditions down here," Duncan said.