Sonoma County may lessen camping restrictions amid homelessness uptick
After hearing about an uptick in homelessness in this year's point-in-time count, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors is moving closer to implementing more relaxed public camping restrictions that will actually be enforced. The county has stopped enforcing its current regulations after a court decision determined they were too restrictive.
Tina Rivera, director of the county's Department of Health Services, led a presentation to the board Tuesday that reported 2,893 homeless or unhoused individuals residing in the county in February of this year, up from 2,745 in 2020.
She said the increase was driven by a rise in homeless veterans and young people aged 18-24.
Rivera said the county is striving to achieve a concept known as functional zero homelessness, in which homelessness would be reduced to something that is rare, brief for the person going through it, and only a one-time experience.
She said doing so would take more permanent solutions like housing and that too many people are stuck in an "interim solution," such as temporary shelters.
Supervisor Lynda Hopkins said homelessness is the biggest human rights issue in the county.
Supervisor Chris Coursey said that the Joe Rodota Trail was the site of a large encampment that had made the trail unusable and asked what could be done to address the situation.
"The solution to homelessness is housing," Rivera said.
Rivera said 60-80 percent of people living in temporary shelters are ready to move into permanent housing, but there is "nowhere for them to go." She said the Department of Health Services was continuing to identify landlords that will accept housing vouchers.
Later in the meeting, Deputy County Counsel Matt Lilligren detailed a proposed amendment to the county's public camping ordinance. The change would amend the county code to allow camping overnight in places where it is currently restricted, while also setting new boundaries for waterways and other areas.
Lilligren said the county has not been enforcing its current restrictions after a 2019 decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the case Martin v. City of Boise determined that lawmakers cannot pass complete restrictions on sleeping in public without meeting certain criteria, like having a bed available as an alternative. The county has been seeking to craft a new ordinance that will comply with that decision and thus allow its enforcement once again.
The current ordinance prohibits nearly all camping in public at any time and any place, according to Lilligren. The new version would allow camping in some public areas from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m.
Prohibitions would still include blocking public roads, streets, or sidewalks. Certain types of county property deemed sensitive or inconsistent with such use would also be off limits, as would camping within 150 of the high-water mark of a body of water, according to Lilligren's presentation. Further restrictions include 100 feet from a residence or playground and within areas deemed a "very high fire severity zone."
The Board of Supervisors is expected to revisit the amendment in August before a vote is taken.