What happened to Sacramento’s 20-site homeless plan? Here’s where they stand
The Sacramento City Council in August 2021 approved a $100 million blueprint to open 20 shelters and sanctioned camping sites for homeless residents.
None of the sites has opened, although some of them are still on the table in some form of planning.
Here’s a look at what happened to each site in the proposal.
▪ Roseville Road Regional Transit parking lot
What council approved: A safe parking lot for up to 300 cars and 360 people
What happened: The city, Regional Transit and Caltrans signed a lease in July 2022, but it has not opened.
▪ Colfax Street and Arden Way
What council approved: 25 tiny homes for up 75 people
What happened: The city spent $617,000 to pave and fence the site to prepare it for tiny homes, but it never opened. A tight-knit group of homeless people went back to camping on the lot Oct. 1.
▪ Eleanor and Traction avenues
What council approved: 10 tiny homes for 15 veterans
What happened: The site was on track to open in November 2021. The city planned to place 26 tiny homes on the city-owned site — more than double the number that was in the siting plan, Public Works Director Ryan Moore told the council last year. Following the adoption of the plan, however, Councilman Sean Loloee, whose district includes the site, “indicated that this was not a priority site,” city spokesman Tim Swanson said.
▪ Lexington Street and Dixieanne Avenue
What council approved: 50 tiny homes for 100 people
What happened: The adjacent Caliber Collision auto body shop sued the city alleging the tiny homes would hurt business. The city in May swept an encampment on the lot.
▪ End of Rosin Court
What council approved: A safe ground and safe parking site for 100 cars, 120 people
What happened: Reclamation District 1000 had expressed interest in leasing the site to the city, Moore told the council last year. However, the site “is owned by Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency and is/was being used for construction staging by the Army Corps of Engineers,” Swanson said earlier this month.
▪ Northgate Boulevard and Patio Avenue
What council approved: A Joshua’s House for 15 homeless hospice patients
What happened: The site was supposed to open in spring 2022. It’s still planned but no opening date has been set, Councilman Jeff Harris said.
▪ Four locations under the W-X freeway from 18th to 24th streets
What council approved: 200 tiny homes for 400 people
What happened: Michael Malinowski, owner of Applied Architecture on X Street, sued the city over the plan alleging it violated the California Environmental Quality Act. The city then signed a settlement agreement in which it agreed to abandon the project.
▪ Florin Road RT station parking lot
What council approved: A safe parking lot for 125 cars, 150 people
What happened: This site is to be considered only after the RT Roseville Road site has been activated and examined for “proof of concept,” Swanson said.
▪ 24th Street and 48th Avenue
What council approved: A safe ground and safe parking lot for 25-50 people
What happened: There are land-use restrictions for this site due to its proximity to the Executive Airport, Swanson said.
▪ 2740 29th Ave.
What council approved: 10-12 tiny homes for 30-36 people in families
What happened: “This is a small site in a residential neighborhood that is privately owned and requires extensive work,” Swanson said.
▪ 3331 Fruitridge Road
What council approved: A safe parking for 30 to 40 cars
What happened: “This site is privately owned, and the city’s understanding is the owner is not interested in selling,” Swanson said.
▪ Riza Avenue and Jimolene Drive
What council approved: 110 manufactured homes for 330 people
What happened: This is a privately owned site, and the owner is not interested in selling it, Swanson said.
▪ 63rd Street and 21st Avenue
What council approved: 30 tiny homes for 90 people
What happened: A building on this site has extensive fire damage, and there would be considerable costs to demolish it and remediate and upgrade the site, Swanson said.
▪ Franklin Boulevard RT parking lot
What council approved: A safe parking for up to 100 cars
What happened: This site is to be considered only after the Roseville Road site has been activated and examined for “proof of concept.”
▪ 2875 Meadowview Road
What council approved: 125 tiny homes for 200 people
What happened: The city was not able to negotiate terms with the property owner.
▪ 700 N. 5th St.
What council approved: A shelter expansion, increasing existing capacity from 104 to 204
What happened: This shelter was expanded to 164 beds.
Homeless sites opened elsewhere
Although Sacramento did not open sites under the plan the City Council approved in August 2021, it opened new homeless services at the following locations in 2021 and 2022.
▪ One motel shelter in an undisclosed location for women and children.
▪ An expanded Miller Park Safe Ground at Miller Park along the Sacramento River.
▪ A new 50-bed facility at 3615 Auburn Blvd., where people can stay for a few days at a time.
▪ 117 units of homeless housing through the state’s Project Homekey program in North Natomas. A second Homekey site under construction in downtown with 92 units at 11th and H streets.
▪ 100-bed shelter for men and women at X Street and Alhambra Boulevard
This story was originally published October 23, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
