At a contentious four-hour meeting, the Sacramento City Council voted 7 to 2 to move forward with a plan to charge unhoused seniors 30% of their income to participate in future tiny home communities the city plans on building.
According to the city’s presentation, residents will begin paying after a 90-day grace period. The communities will be referral-only and for those who have proven income.
Brian Pedro, the city’s community response director, said Sacramento is able to pay to construct the communities in full, which will cost around $85,000 per unit. Each unit will have electricity, air conditioning, wifi and a fridge.
Pedro added they are more affordable than permanent support housing units, which can cost around $400,000 per unit.
Charging residents both encourages self sufficiency but also helps offset operating costs, Pedro told the council.
“It increases our sustainability and it allows us to serve more people,” he said. “None of this can be done without money.”
The city plans to build four new tiny home sites with a maximum of 40 units per community. Three of four proposed sites are intended for seniors 55 and above as permanent or interim housing options.
A city spokesperson said in a statement that each community will take approximately a year and a half to develop.
Council members who supported the plan saw it as a meaningful way to get those experiencing homelessness directly into shelter. They also acknowledged that it is one part of the equation, and not a one-size-fits-all solution.
Mayor Kevin McCarty said there is no solution to homelessness, but that it’s a promising step.
“I think it’s a very fair proposition,” he said of the fees. “If people think it’s too much, they don’t have to participate.”
Councilmembers Mai Vang and Roger Dickinson opposed the vote. Vang felt the tiny homes did not constitute proper residences, as none of the units will come with their own bathroom.
“They are non-congregate rest spaces, a step towards stability, but I don’t consider it an actual home,” Vang said. “ If it’s temporary, with no shower, bathroom, inside the tiny home, that to me is not truly housing, especially if we have seniors living there.”
Several of the proposed tiny home sites would be located in the North Sacramento and South Sacramento council districts represented by Dickinson and Vang, respectively.
The proposed addresses are at 3111 Arena Boulevard in Natomas and 2461 Gardendale Road in South Sacramento and 6360 25th Street near the Sacramento Executive Airport. Pedro said the city is currently looking at a fourth site in District 7 but it has yet to be determined.
Pedro explained that programs such as day rehabilitation, housing navigation services, veterinary services and substance abuse prevention will be available on-site.
Sacramento State Professor of Social Work Arturo Baiocchi said in an interview with CapRadio that he does not know of any cities that make residents pay to live in tiny home shelters.
He said if the city intends to offer services, they need to be robust.
“ People are gonna be there for years,” he said. “You need to think about those tiny homes as little communities. Here’s a community garden, here’s a rec center. People still need some kind of support.”
Baiocchi said he and his students have been monitoring conditions at one of the city’s tiny home shelters off of Roseville Road that offers wrap-around services. He said the services provided there are not sufficient.
“Roseville Road is like a quasi prison,” he said. “Roseville Road feels very much like somebody with an excel spread sheet designed this with little to no care about ‘what does the space look like? How does it feel?’”
Baiocchi did note that many residents he spoke with said they are grateful to have something, but maintains that their success will be contingent on community-building in the tiny homes and with the surrounding neighborhoods.
Many speakers during public comment at the meeting echoed similar sentiments, as well as concerns over public safety and charging the residents.
Other developments for the unhoused
While most of Tuesday’s council meeting focused on the tiny home sites, Pedro also presented two potential locations for permanent supportive housing, a safe camp ground and a safe parking site, though these plans are still in their initial stages.
The two permanent supportive housing sites are proposed for 2809 Rio Linda Boulevard in North Sacramento and 4290 Mack Road in South Sacramento. The sites would potentially have 220 units combined and are dependent on state funding through the Homekey+ program.
The safe camping program is intended for seniors, as well, and is a space to legally camp proposed for 291 Sequoia Boulevard in the River District north of downtown. Plans for the 100-space campground call for city-provided tents, restrooms, trash collections and charging stations.
The safe parking program is planned for 4625 Cosumnes River Boulevard in South Sacramento for approximately 60 to 80 vehicles that are in working condition and registered. According to the presentation, the parking site will be run by the city and is referral-only, with neighborhood vehicles getting priority.
Pedro told chambers that these options all have a part to play in getting Sacramento’s vulnerable off the street.
“Our homeless community is not one size fits all,” he said. “We need all options available.”
Riley Palmer covers local government and the city of Sacramento at large for CapRadio. CapRadio is a partner of The Intersection and CVJC.