And 7 people - totalling 3 households - were asked to leave the site due to behavioral problems from members of their households. 8 guests were transferred to or shelter in place hotels due to health issues. But the report says only 25 percent of the residents were placed into housing throughout the year. The city contracted with a nonprofit that provided laundry, shower and security services.įifty-seven percent of the San Jose Avenue site’s residents were eligible for subsidized housing and the rest were connected with case managers who tried to re-house the guests through “problem-solving,” including job placements, small grants and establishing contact with family members.
The site, which was also overseen by San Francisco’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH), provided 29 parking spots home to 75 people at 2940 San Jose Avenue, near the Balboa Park BART State, at a total cost of $1.6 million. A previous Vehicle Triage Site in San Francisco operated from November 2019 to November 2020 and showed mixed results, according to a report from the city comptroller’s office. Whether the site at Candlestick Park will be able to help residents into permanent housing remains to be seen. “With any program that they open, it comes with enforcement, because that’s how the system does it,” says Kelley Cutler, an organizer with the Coalition on Homelessness San Francisco. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the city has forged an agreement with the state parks department, which owns the land the city will be leasing, to increase police presence in the park and tow vehicles on roads adjacent to the park. Advocates for people housed in vehicles are concerned this won’t be long enough to permanently house people - and troubled the city has already made an arrangement to tow and ticket nearby RVs when they roll out the safe RV site. But the city is also doubling down on enforcement to deal with RVs outside the park.Īnd the planned site will be temporary - the city has not stated how long it will last, but is negotiating a two-year lease with the state parks department for the land. The new site will provide a safe, sanctioned place for people to park, as well as resources, which the city is hoping will lead to more people connected with resources and less complaints about debris and waste. Five or more unpaid tickets can lead to a car or van being towed, sometimes called “poverty tows” because they disproportionately affect people sheltering in their vehicles. The city’s parking laws - including a ban on parking on a public street for more than 72 hours - make it easy for people living in their vehicles to rack up tickets. And city officials frequently ticket or tow vehicles that people are living in. But the approach has drawbacks finding potable water is difficult, and RVs produce waste that is difficult to discard, leading to complaints from neighbors. In January 2020, those numbers were 554 and 260 respectively.įor people who have no other shelter, living inside a vehicle provides protection from the elements, heat, a place to sleep, cook and use the bathroom.
In November, there were 673 people living in RVs, campers, and vans and another 332 living in passenger vehicles across San Francisco, according to city data. The strategy is partially a response to an accelerated trend of people living in their vehicles during the pandemic.
The site - formally called a “vehicle triage center,” will also include case management and housing services intended to move people into permanent housing. The planned site will include 150 parking spaces with a capacity for 177 residents and will have electricity, lighting, 24-hour security, bathrooms, drinking water and blackwater pumps to handle RV waste.
In late October, San Francisco mayor London Breed announced plans for a safe parking site for people living in their RVs housed at Candlestick Point State Recreation Area in the Bayview-Hunter’s Point neighborhood.
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