Migrant Worker Camps Proposal OKd

The San Diego Planning Commission has approved a proposal that would permit migrant workers’ camps in semirural parts of the city, if the camps are upgraded to meet health and safety standards.

The measure moves to the City Council for consideration next month after Thursday’s 4-1 Planning Commission vote.

After studying the makeshift, often unsanitary camps that are currently home to as many as 1,300 farm workers and day laborers, city planners recommended an amendment to the City Charter spelling out health and safety requirements under which such camps can exist legally.

Nonprofit agencies and private developers will be encouraged to apply to set up and operate camps that would eventually replace existing migrant worker settlements east and northeast of Del Mar, officials said.