Sacramento councilmember proposes cap on River District homeless shelter beds
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- New providers can join only after a two-thirds City Council vote to exceed cap.
- Pluckebaum proposes capping River District beds at 526, rising to 626 with new site.
- Proposal accounts for 100 planned tent beds at Sequoia safe camping site.
Sacramento Councilmember Phil Pluckebaum is proposing a limit on the number of homeless shelter beds in the city’s River District.
Under the proposal, the north downtown neighborhood will cap its shelter capacity after adding roughly 100 later this year at the city’s proposed safe camping site. The shelter — located at 291 Sequoia Blvd. — will bring the district’s total to 626.
The measure would also cap the number of social service providers in the neighborhood after its adoption date. New providers could be added by a two-thirds vote by the City Council. The district currently has several service providers including Loaves & Fishes, CORE Mariposa Mental Health Facility, Sierra Elder Wellness Program, TeleCare facilities, Women’s Empowerment, Mercy Housing’s Quinn Cottages and the Showers by Touchstone program, according to a Thursday staff report.
“Not just the beds, but just services in general, have always sort of congregated in the River District,” Pluckebaum said.
Pluckebaum said that his proposal mirrors a previous ordinance rescinded last year after “getting out of compliance” for going above up the cap. The prior ordinance was in effect for about 20 years and the plan was always to reintroduce a new measure, he added.
His district has the highest number of shelter beds in the city, according to Thursday’s staff report for the proposal. Districts for Councilmembers Eric Guerra and Roger Dickinson are ranked second and third, respectively, behind Pluckebaum’s.
Pluckebaum’s proposal will be considered by the Law and Legislation Committee this Tuesday. If approved, the measure would move to the full council.
This story was originally published January 8, 2026 at 3:14 PM.
