Sonoma County Homeless: $2M Emergency Outdoor Shelter Approved

SANTA ROSA, CA — Sonoma County supervisors Tuesday evening selected a site near the Los Guilicos complex in east Santa Rosa for a temporary emergency outdoor shelter for 60 homeless people currently camping on the Joe Rodota Trail between west Santa Rosa and Sebastopol. Supervisors rejected a site located in the county's administration center in Santa Rosa.

The plan for each of the two sites included 60 64-square-foot housing units, restrooms, showers, a dining area and warming station, a dog run, county services navigation center, medical services and 24-hour security.

The 1.8-acre administration center site on Administration Drive is close to public transit and a shopping center that includes a Safeway and restaurants.

The 2-acre Los Guilicos site on North Pythian Road is near the county's Juvenile Justice Center, busy state Highway 12 and the Oakmont senior community. The total one-time costs for each option is around $2 million, and total ongoing costs for each is $240,000 a month.

County officials want to free approximately 220 campers from the unsanitary conditions, including a rat infestation, along a paved 1-mile section of the bicycle and pedestrian Joe Rodota Trail by the end of the month.

The two proposed locations for an emergency outdoor shelter were deemed most likely to be up and running by that time. The selected site will be operated by The Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

Board Chair Susan Gorin, whose district includes the Los Guilicos complex, favored the site at the county's administration center with access to public transit and county government services.

Supervisor Shirlee Zane, whose district includes the administration center, favored the Los Guilicos locale. Zane said an outdoor shelter for the homeless in the administration center is too close to a pre-school and daycare center.

Supervisor Lynda Hopkins, who faces a possible recall effort and whose district includes the Joe Rodota Trail, urged her colleagues to make a decision on the location Tuesday in order to meet the Jan. 31 deadline.

Gorin, Zane and Hopkins are running for re-election in March.

After the 4-1 vote in favor of the Los Guilicos location, Gorin said the 4,500 people in the Oakmont community will be up in arms at a meeting she is holding Thursday.

"We are being rushed. Neither site meets my approval," Gorin said.

Supervisor David Rabbitt said Santa Rosa officials should be more involved in the trail's health and public safety issues because it is located in Santa Rosa on county-owned land.

"None of this is pretty and all of it is screwed up," Rabbitt said. But he said the Los Guilicos site is the best of two options.

Caroline Judy, director of the Sonoma County General Services office, said county staff at the Community Development Commission and Department of Health Services looked at 221 sites and developed 11 criteria for the emergency outdoor shelter site.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

• Sonoma County Supes Approve $11M Plan For Housing The Homeless
• Sonoma County To Buy 2 Residences For Homeless Trail Campers

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