San Rafael is extending its anti-camping ordinance to all city parks to reduce wildfire risk.
The City Council voted 3-1 at its meeting Monday to approve the amendment after a six-month evaluation of its homeless ordinance. Councilmember Maribeth Bushey was absent from the meeting. A second reading and final adoption is set for April 21.
RELATED: Proposed California bill would bar fining, arresting homeless people for camping
Councilmember Rachel Kertz, who cast the sole vote against the ordinance, said “framing homelessness as a fire hazard rather than a humanitarian issue only reinforces negative stereotypes and leads to further marginalization rather than solutions like supportive housing and increased mental service.
“For me, this ordinance does not check those boxes,” said Kertz, who participated in the city’s homelessness working group meetings with Mayor Kate Colin.
Review of the homeless ordinance involved community meetings with the working group, which has been charged with finding solutions to balance the needs of a growing homeless community with safety concerns reported by residents and business owners.
“This, as we know is a very difficult policy issue and there are many competing viewpoints,” City Manager Cristine Alilovich said.
Alilovich issued a temporary administrative order prohibiting camping in all parks before the proposal was presented to the council. She said no one had been living in the city parks.
The move was to ensure that the council and residents could fully evaluate the ordinance before considering a permanent adoption, and that the action would not result in an eviction of any homeless residents.
“The proposed ordinance is a preventative measure that reduces wildfire risk in our parks and ensures that no one is displaced due to the city’s camping regulations,” Alilovich said.
San Rafael’s effort to address homelessness has been a battle fraught with litigation.
Following reports of drug use, violence and other illicit activity over the years, the city adopted bans on camping at Albert Park, Boyd Park and the Falkirk Cultural Center. Each move drew lawsuits.
An ordinance regulating the size and location of encampments went into effect in August after a yearlong legal battle.
In October, the city established a sanctioned camping area, where 50 people are living and have access to case managers and social services. So far, one resident of the camp has moved into permanent housing, and another has received a housing voucher and is seeking living quarters, officials said.
The new amendment is prompted solely by fire concern at camps outside of the sanctioned camping area, officials said.
“For much of this year the city has consistently received feedback from the community around the existing camping ordinance in the context of the recent L.A. fires,” said John Stefanski, assistant city manager.
Secondly, Cal Fire in February released updated fire hazard severity zone maps that designated several city parks as fire hazard zones. That included Gerstle, Sun Valley, Peacock Gap, Victor Jones, Santa Margarita, Jerry Russom Memorial and Terra Linda parks, among others.
With so many parks falling under the hazard zone, and with a ban in place at three parks already, officials opted to recommend a blanket ban at all parks, Stefanski said.
“With peak fire season approaching,” Stefanski said, “we believe that this amendment is timely and necessary to protect public safety.”
Members of the homelessness working group had varying opinions. Some members said they wanted the ban to go farther, while others suggested a different approach.
Some residents said they’ve had bad experiences with homeless people at parks, such as being harassed, or seeing drug use and human feces.
Resident John Bischoff, who participated in the working group, said he was interested in seeing an expansion of the sanctioned camping area and a build-out of tiny homes, a concept city staff has been exploring, but with little progress.
“Without shelters or more sanctioned camping areas, enforcement (of the ordinance) will be an issue,” Bischoff said.
Ritter Center CEO Mark Shotwell said he is proud of the city’s effort to address homelessness with compassion and safety in mind.
“It is not easy to do that,” he said.
“This city is regulating camping,” Shotwell said. “That’s what needs to happen. We need to regulate it and manage it for the good of the city and for the good of the individuals that need to be housed. And there aren’t going to be any camps left in San Rafael soon enough. We’re going to end homelessness for everybody.”
Colin said in addition to the sanctioned camping area, the city is home to Jonathan’s Place, a shelter and permanent supportive housing complex operated by Homeward Bound of Marin. Another complex with supportive housing for formerly homeless residents is opening soon at 3301 Kerner Blvd. in San Rafael, she said.
Colin said she agrees that more shelter and more options for housing are needed, but the city does not have the resources.
“We do not have a health and human services department here, that is not our forte,” Colin said. “So it’s critical, for those solutions that are really going to transition people from the street into housing, it has to come from the county.”
Colin said she is grateful for the collaboration with the county around homelessness.
“I’ll be frank, I want them to do more around resolving encampments. I want them to do more around having a tiny home village,” Colin said. “We’re going to keep pushing for it because it’s what’s right for the folks that are on the street and it’s actually what’s right for our community as well.”
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Another Bay Area city to ban camping in all parks )
Also on site :