Quick permit process for emergency shelters, campgrounds approved by Sacramento City Council
Members of the Sacramento City Council Tuesday voted to approve an emergency ordinance that will allow the City to quickly issue permits for temporary tent encampments, safe parking lots and communities of tiny homes, trailers or sleeping cabins to house people experiencing homelessness.
The size of such an encampment will be capped at 80 beds.
Such encampments would require only an administrative permit to locate on any assembly site, such as a church property, or on sites in commercial or industrial zones at least a half mile away from another temporary shelter or sensitive uses like schools, childcare centers, parks or museums. Such temporary encampments will be permitted as long as the City continues to operate under a declared Shelter Crisis.
Mayor Steinberg noted that while the City has made unprecedented efforts to house people experiencing homelessness, and is currently embarked on creating a master siting plan for shelters, the problem continues to grow amid the Covid-19 pandemic and an ongoing housing shortage.
He also has proposed a resolution, slated to come before the Council on Jan. 26, to direct the City to procure 63 tiny homes in the next 50 days — including eight that the City already has in inventory — and place them on publicly or privately owned sites around the city identified by Councilmembers representing each district.
Readily available tiny homes and cabins, some originally developed for disaster relief, can be deployed and assembled within days or even minutes.
“The City needs to be more nimble,” Mayor Steinberg said. “We have not implemented nearly fast enough the solutions that we all know would bring relief to hundreds and thousands experiencing homelessness, and also bring relief to our businesses and residents at the same time.”
