The Sunnyvale City Council has decided to allow sites that accommodate parking for the homeless.
At its Nov. 12 meeting, the council adopted a safe parking ordinance and got the ball rolling on a city site earmarked for people living in their vehicles.
Amanda Sztoltz, homeless services manager, told the council that the city’s point-in-time count of homeless people in Sunnyvale showed that 146 people said they are living in their car. To better provide services for those people, the city has developed a program that allows faith-based organizations and other nonprofits to operate rotational and permanent sites across the city.
“To be able to get them those services to get them back on their feet is really powerful,” she said.
Those sites will be a combination of ones that provide overnight parking and 24/7 access. They will require onsite case management and have potable water. Competitive grants through the city’s general fund would assist operators with one-time money to get the programs up and running.
The ordinance allows for small and large sites, accommodating between two and 10 vehicles and between 11 and 75 vehicles, respectively. The city will require permits for each site, with city oversight and notice to neighbors living within 500 ft. or 1,000 ft., depending on the site’s size.
While Sztoltz said it is impossible to quantify the value of providing security to the homeless, the city would also likely see an added benefit of cleaner streets, reducing the burden on the public works department.
Further, the city will look into a publicly funded city site down the road. Sztoltz said that process would likely take between eight and nine months.
Agnes Veith, a member of Livable Sunnyvale, urged the council to adopt the ordinance, saying the high cost of living in the city is the primary cause of the need. The homeless should be able to “live without fear,” and the safe parking ordinance helps achieve that.
Many of the areas designated for safe parking across the Bay Area have become communities just as vibrant as any apartment complex or housing development, she said.
“These residents take pride in where they live just as many of us take pride in where we live,” Veith said.
Mayor Larry Klein said the ordinance was “a long time coming” and a “win-win” solution.
Council Member Richard Mehlinger called safe parking sites the “single most cost-effective tool in our toolbox to address homelessness.” An added bonus is the environmental benefits, he added.
“Getting these RVs into safe parking sites is going to benefit, not just our unhoused residents, but our housed residents,” he said.
The council passed the ordinance unanimously.
Council Injects Human Services Grant Program With Extra Cash
On a similar note, the council opted to also up the amount of money it contributes to subsidizing human services. City employees recommended the council increase the amount the city contributes from the city’s general fund for Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) program from $135,000 to $150,000 a year.
However, the council saw fit to use money from one of its reserves to up that total to $200,000. Additionally, it directed city employees to examine baking in a cost escalator into the process and rolling the allocation of the money into its budget cycle better.
Jenny Carloni, the city’s housing officer, told the council federal money has dried up a bit, a trend that is likely to continue. She said the city contributing more money to the program will allow more applicants to apply, expanding the program’s reach. Such an expansion is inline with the council’s priorities, she added.
Marie Bernard, executive director of Sunnyvale Community Services, an emergency assistance nonprofit, implored the council to increase how much it subsidizes the program. She said the cost of providing services to the city’s “most vulnerable” population has increased at least as much as inflation.
Other nonprofits that get CDBG money also advocated for continued support of the program.
Pilar Furlong, chief community resources officer for the Bill Wilson Center, a nonprofit that provides support counseling services for families, illustrated how important the money is to her organization. She said the amount of money the city contributes should grow along with the city.
“At the Bill Wilson Center, those we see for counseling, don’t have the means to pay for this help,” she said. “They are concerned with making sure they pay the rent and that a hot meal is on the table for their family, so without support from the city, these people might not access the needed services, services that could teach them the coping mechanisms they need to help them get through grief, depression, anxiety or even anger.”
And the council was amenable to an increase.
Mehlinger moved for the increase, pulling $50,000 from the city’s service-level set-aside money. While he typically prefers a wider lens for examining priorities for that money, he said the roughly 1.5% cut the money represents was low enough that he was comfortable with it.
While he wasn’t committed to solidifying a cost escalator just yet, examining options for it as well as options to roll the human services allocation into the budget allows for a more “rigorous and systematic” process.
“This strikes a good balance of making sure the community’s needs are met while ensuring that we maintain fiscal discipline,” he said.
The motion passed unanimously. Council Members Omar Din and Alysa Cisneros were absent.
To submit public comments ahead of the meeting, visit http://Sunnyvale.ca.gov/PublicComments; Meeting online link: https://sunnyvale-ca-gov.zoom.us/j/96111580540; meeting call-in telephone number: 833-548-0276, meeting ID: 961 1158 0540
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