Sacramento council to consider to stop towing homeless vehicles unless city can offer shelter
The Sacramento City Council will consider on Tuesday to stop towing vehicles where homeless people are living unless they can offer them a shelter bed first.
Mayor Darrell Steinberg added the item to the agenda Friday afternoon after the city faced criticism for towing 18 vehicles Monday from a North Sacramento industrial park without offering people shelter. Crews returned to the same street two days later to issue more notices ordering vehicles to move or be towed, despite Steinberg and Councilwoman Katie Valenzuela raising concerns.
“Ensuring the cleanliness and safety of business corridors and neighborhoods is essential,” Steinberg said in a statement Friday. “So is helping people who desperately need help. This policy is the first step in ensuring that city policy links a cleaner and safer city with a requirement to help those who want and need relief from the impacts of unsheltered homelessness. The two must go together. If it’s either or, the community and the people lose.”
Under the proposed resolution, the city would not be able to tow a vehicle without first offering the occupants shelter or housing, or a place to move the vehicle, such as a safe parking lot. The city also must make sure the people safely arrive at the new location. It would apply to all vehicles that were occupied at any point within three days of receiving a notice. It would not matter whether the vehicle is operable.
Steinberg’s proposal will likely be controversial. While activists have been urging the city to stop towing homeless vehicles, some business owners and homeowners have been complaining about urine, feces, trash and break-ins. For that reason, City Councilman Jeff Harris said he supported Monday’s action.
City staff recently identified 3,000 vehicles that are in violation of the city’s vehicle parking code — which states vehicles cannot be parked in the same location for more than 72 hours — and made a priority list of locations for enforcement, Harris said.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the city’s Code Compliance Department issued notices to 101 vehicles that had been parked in the same spot for over 72 hours, said Kelli Trapani, a city spokeswoman. That number does not include similar notices from the police department, which issued at least four notices Wednesday in North Sacramento.
The resolution would not prohibit staff from issuing notices ordering vehicles to move, but would prohibit towing unless the requirements are met.
Often times, when a vehicle is towed, people are left to sleep in tents, which are less warm and less safe. They typically do not get their vehicles back.
Jeffrey Clark, whose RV was towed by the city Monday on Lathrop Way, said the tow yard told him it would be destroyed on Dec. 21 if he does not pay more than $600 to get it back.
Clark, 55, has been sleeping in a car ever since.
“It’s hard to believe after all I’ve put into this state, this country. I’ve been working since I was 14 years old, paying taxes my whole life and this is what I’m worth — nothing,” Clark said. “It’s sickening. I wouldn’t wish this upon anyone. No one deserves this.”
The city has had 105 tiny homes and RVs sitting in storage unused for months.
The resolution would also require the city manager to provide monthly updates to the public on the implementation of the council’s $100 million Comprehensive Siting Plan to Address Homelessness. The council adopted the plan in August, but none of the 20 new sites have yet opened.
The city has about 1,100 beds in shelters, motels, and Safe Grounds, but all are typically full. During a January 2019 count, researchers estimated there are 5,570 homeless people living in Sacramento County on any given night. Since then, it’s likely the number of tents has at least doubled.
The meeting will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday. It will be livestreamed on the city’s website.
This story was originally published December 10, 2021 at 5:05 PM.
