San Rafael to establish camp for homeless people along Mahon Creek

San Rafael plans to create a sanctioned camping area for homeless people along the Mahon Creek Path.

The City Council voted unanimously Monday to appropriate $2.2 million for the first phase of the program. The council also approved amendments to its camping ordinance to more closely align with a state executive order. Vice Mayor Eli Hill was absent from the meeting.

“People do not choose to be homeless but they get into a situation where that is the only option, and the network and the support we are proposing with this plan is where we need to go,” Councilmember Rachel Kertz said.

The program comes after a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against the city in the beginning of August. The lawsuit — filed last summer after the city adopted an ordinance aimed at curbing violence, crime and littering related to large camps — challenged the restrictions on their size and location.

The plaintiffs argued that breaking up camps exposed the most vulnerable among them to higher health and safety risks. They also said the ordinance violated statutory and constitutional rights.

During more than a year of litigation, the city was unable to enforce many of its camping regulations. Meanwhile, the Mahon Creek Path camp has grown from about 33 tents to 67.

As of Jan. 31, there were about 65 people living at the camp, according to Mel Burnette, a housing and homelessness analyst for the city. More than 90% of the campers had lived there for over a year.

The new program is a partnership between the city and the Marin County Department of Health and Human Services. It is funded through a three-year grant of about $6 million from the California Interagency Council on Homelessness. The program aims to get campers into permanent housing and connect them to other key services.

Through the program, the county department will oversee outreach and case management services through one full-time outreach worker and three full-time housing case management workers. The sanctioned camp program includes contracting with Defense Block Security, the nonprofit Downtown Streets Team and other case management and community service providers.

The temporary sanctioned camping area would be in the northern portion of the Mahon Creek Path between Lincoln Avenue and Francisco Boulevard West. It would be active 12 to 18 months and allow up to 47 tents for those who were residents there prior to Jan. 31. Residents would have to agree to a code of ethics and abide by a no-visitor policy.

However, some residents of the nearby neighborhoods pointed out how close the area is to schools. The city ordinance requires that campsites be at least 250 feet away from the property lines of any preschool or K-12 school.

Katie Fleet, who lives in the Gerstle Park neighborhood, said she has a child who attends the Parkside Children’s Center. She said the City Council should delay any decisions on the program in order to understand the possible effects on the children.

“I haven’t heard anyone mention Parkside Children’s Center and its proximity to all of the issues that we’re talking about,” Fleet said. “There are over 1,000 children that attend Davidson Middle School. This is 47 people we’re talking about in this camp and a thousand-plus kids.”

Kevin Bruner, also a parent to a child at the children’s center, said he has had to shield his child from multiple negative experiences with camp residents in the past year. He worried the plan will cause further displacement for those ineligible for the program.

“I appreciate that the sanctioned area, with its code of ethics, will make sure that people who are helpable might get some services,” Bruner said. “The collateral damage of this is the people who will not conform, who are incapable mentally of conforming, who are high, who are dangerous, who are going to scatter to other neighborhoods.”

Burnette said the area was picked because the grant requires the funds be used to provide alternative shelter near the existing unsanctioned camp. It should also be within walking distance to food and other services.

“Additionally, the city lacks suitable public land elsewhere for this program,” Burnette said.

An 8-foot high chain-link fence would be added along the San Rafael Creek, as well as a security guard station on each end to provide 24/7 security. Plans include six portable restrooms and hand-washing stations, garbage containers and a weekly shower service.

Mark Rivera, an unhoused resident of San Rafael, wondered if some services could be increased, specifically relating to hygiene.

“I think that showering once a week by anyone’s standard is inadequate,” Rivera said. “Most of us get showers twice a day.”

Burnette said the county has not received the grant funding yet. In order to begin working on the camp area and program right away, city staff asked the council approve the $2.2 million out of a city grant fund.

A second phase of the program would include the creation of an interim shelter program. Staff are still working on identifying possible locations, Burnette said.

A point-in-time count this year found 1,090 unhoused people in Marin County, a 2.77% decrease from the 2022 count. In San Rafael, the most recent survey in 2022 documented 348 unhoused people and found that nearly two-thirds of camp occupants have lived in the city for more than a decade.

Since 2017, the county has been able to house more than 730 chronically homeless people, with 94% remaining housed through support services. Still, shelter beds are scarce, with only 291 available in the county.

In July, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statewide executive order for local municipalities to prioritize removing camps. The order directs jurisdictions to do site assessments, give advance notice, provide outreach services and offer property storage for a minimum of two months.

San Rafael City Manager Cristine Alilovich said the order only applies to state-owned land.

“The city has already been doing what the government order calls for to the extent possible given the legal constraints,” said John Stefanski, assistant city manager. “The city has removed over 31 tons of debris as a result of bringing these structures down.”

In December 2023, the city prohibited camping on Lindaro Street and issued 49 notices for illegal camping structures. Forty-two recipients have complied.

Stefanski said people are given replacement tents and offers to store personal property for three months. Earlier this week, the city issued notices to structures that were blocking emergency vehicle access on the Mahon Creek Path.

The changes to San Rafael’s encampment ordinance made Monday are meant to align more closely with the governor’s guidelines, according to a staff report.

The City Council approved an amendment that allowed city staff more flexibility to determine if, where, when and how camping on public property could occur. It also approved a 48-hour notice instead of 72 hours for campsites that are in violation of city rules.

If the issue is not resolved in two days, city staff can remove the structure rather than following its administrative appeals process, which, Stefanski said, “is a much longer drawn out process that can take several weeks.”

“We work to seek voluntary compliance first,” Stefanski said. “We work with our nonprofit providers to provide additional notice and outreach where available. So we got at this trying to take a trauma-informed and human-centered approach.”

The city also prohibited occupying or building structures on public property. It still allows temporary structures made of fabric or tarps, but they cannot be attached to private or public property with anything other than removable ground stakes.

The City Council also approved a definition change: camp facility was consolidated into the term “camp paraphernalia,” and includes all implements and equipment used for camping. Additionally, campsites now must be 5 feet away from road pavement to prevent any personal belongings from going into traffic, according to city staff.

A second reading of the ordinance is scheduled for the City Council meeting on Sept. 3. It would become effective 30 days later.

Stefanski declined to disclose the start date for the sanctioned camping area.

Marin County Executive Derek Johnson said addressing homelessness requires a combination of compassion and order. He spoke at the council meeting in support of the ordinance and program.

“We have a lot of important work to do in front of us,” Johnson said. “There is also work to be done to transition from where we’ve been to where we need to go to stabilize this community, those neighborhoods and the individuals who are suffering from homelessness.”