Skip to content
CapRadio

CapRadio

signal status listen live donate
listen live donate signal status
listen live donate signal status
  • News
    • beats
    • State Government
    • Environment
    • Health Care
    • Business
    • Arts and Lifestyle
    • Food and Sustainability
    • PolitiFact California
    • California Dream
    • Videos
    • Photos
  • Music
    • genres
    • Classical
    • Jazz
    • Roots
    • Eclectic
    • Videos
    • Daily Playlist
  • Programs + Podcasts
    • news
    • Morning Edition
    • All Things Considered
    • Marketplace
    • Insight
    • California State of Mind
    • The View From Here
    • music
    • Acid Jazz
    • At the Opera
    • Classical Music
    • Connections
    • Excellence in Jazz
    • Hey, Listen!
    • Insight Music
    • K-ZAP on CapRadio
    • Mick Martin's Blues Party
    • Programs A-Z
    • Podcast Directory
  • Schedules
    • News
    • Music
    • ClassicalStream
    • JazzStream
    • Weekly Schedule
    • Daily Playlist
  • Community
    • Events Calendar
    • CapRadio Garden
    • CapRadio Reads
    • CapRadio Travels
    • Ticket Giveaways
  • Support
    • Evergreen Gift
    • One-Time Gift
    • Corporate Support / Underwriting
    • Vehicle Donation
    • Stock Gift
    • Legacy Gift
    • Endowment Gift
    • Volunteering
    • Benefits
    • Member FAQ
    • e‑Newsletter
    • Drawing Winners
    • Thank You Gifts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Close Menu
 We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter 
 We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter 

Sacramento City Council Approves Rules Allowing Homeless Encampments On ‘Safe Ground’ Sites

  •  Chris Nichols 
Wednesday, January 20, 2021 | Sacramento, CA
Listen
/
Update RequiredTo play audio, update browser or Flash plugin.
Andrew Nixon / CapRadio

Top to bottom: Christopher Falk, John Heidelburg, and Douglas Burnett under the WX overpass in Sacramento, Thursday, March 26, 2020.

Andrew Nixon / CapRadio

The Sacramento City Council voted 8 to 1 on Tuesday to approve the “safe ground” ordinance, a framework for allowing homeless encampments and tiny homes on properties that meet certain safety requirements.

City leaders hope the new sites — which would be home to a maximum of 80 people sheltered inside tents, cabins or similar structures — will result in safe alternatives to the many make-shift homeless campgrounds that dot Sacramento’s urban core and line its river banks. 

The public was encouraged to work with their council member to select the most viable sites, which have not yet been determined. A city staff report from October includes maps of potential sites, though city staff is still determining whether all of them are eligible.  

All safe ground locations must be at least 500 feet from a school, daycare or museum. Each will require a permit, security, lighting, garbage pickup, an onsite manager and secure storage. Officials said the rules could allow churches, community groups or any other property owner to apply to use a vacant lot for a future safe ground site. 

“The point of all of this is to alleviate the pain and the difficulty that the people on the streets and the affected communities are feeling,” Mayor Darrell Steinberg said at the meeting. 

There were approximately 3,900 unhoused people in Sacramento in 2019, according to the county’s most recent tally. Most live outdoors, in cars, tents or abandoned buildings and many have moved to the city’s downtown during the pandemic. This year’s count was delayed due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Tuesday’s vote did not include money for future safe ground sites, though the council is expected to consider purchasing some tiny homes next week to kick-start the initiative.

Council Member Sean Loloee was the lone ‘no’ vote, saying he needed more time to evaluate the proposal. Others, including council members Katie Valenzuela and Mai Vang, approved the rules but questioned whether safe ground sites will materialize without city funding, considering the many associated costs. 

“Where is that money going to come from?” added Bob Erlenbusch, executive director of the Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness, speaking during the meeting. “The city needs to provide the infrastructure and support.” 

Some said the city is taking the wrong approach. 

Teresa McDonald of Sacramento described the safe ground plan as a “Band-Aid,” that won’t truly help people living on the streets. 

“Popping up shelters throughout the neighborhood [for] whoever wants them with no resources at the hands of the people who need it, is not a solution,” McDonald told the council by phone during the meeting’s public comment period. “It is just perpetuating the problem.” 

Steinberg said he views the ordinance as a key step in addressing the immediate emergency of people living outside. He said, however, the city must continue to make progress on longer-term solutions such as the homelessness “master plan” he announced last month. That proposal would approve sites for housing shelters all at once rather than individually, with the goal of making it easier and faster to open them.

Also Tuesday, Steinberg introduced an addendum to the safe ground ordinance that outlines how it can be implemented. Council members are expected to vote on that next week. They’ll also be asked to purchase approximately 60 tiny homes for future safe ground sites “and make them operable” within two months, the mayor said. 

“The only way we’re going to do it,” Steinberg said of opening the 60 tiny homes, “is by (council) members stepping forward and saying ‘I have this site.’ … We’ll work with the community and we’ll get people indoors.” 


Follow us for more stories like this

CapRadio provides a trusted source of news because of you.  As a nonprofit organization, donations from people like you sustain the journalism that allows us to discover stories that are important to our audience. If you believe in what we do and support our mission, please donate today.

Donate Today  

Chris Nichols

PolitiFact California Reporter

For the past dozen years, Chris Nichols has worked as a government and politics reporter at newspapers across California.  Read Full Bio 

 @christhejourno Email Chris Nichols

Coronavirus Newsletter

Get answers to your questions, the latest updates and easy access to the resources you need, delivered to your inbox.

 

Want to know what to expect? Here's a recent newsletter.

Thanks for subscribing!

We'll send you weekly emails so you can stay informed about the coronavirus in California.

Browse all newsletters

More Stories

AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

As Blue Shield Takes Control Of California Vaccine Rollout, Some Counties Worry About Distribution

February 26, 2021

Andrew Nixon / CapRadio

Business Journal: Despite Pandemic, Large Sports Bar Plans To Open In Sacramento’s Downtown Commons This Fall

February 27, 2021

Anne Wernikoff / CalMatters

When Will Nursing Homes Reopen To Visitors? State Officials Won’t Say

March 2, 2021

Most Viewed

California Coronavirus Updates: Steep Decline In Child-Abuse Related ER Visits And Hospitalizations During The Pandemic

When Can I Get A COVID-19 Vaccine? How Will I Find Out? Answers To Your California Vaccine Questions.

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Appears In Peter Gabriel Video

California Coronavirus Updates: CDC Endorses Johnson & Johnson Vaccine

California Coronavirus Updates: Tax Filers Facing Unemployment Fraud Should Request Corrected Forms, Says IRS

We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter

Most Viewed

California Coronavirus Updates: Steep Decline In Child-Abuse Related ER Visits And Hospitalizations During The Pandemic

When Can I Get A COVID-19 Vaccine? How Will I Find Out? Answers To Your California Vaccine Questions.

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Appears In Peter Gabriel Video

California Coronavirus Updates: CDC Endorses Johnson & Johnson Vaccine

California Coronavirus Updates: Tax Filers Facing Unemployment Fraud Should Request Corrected Forms, Says IRS

Back to Top

  • CapRadio

    7055 Folsom Boulevard
    Sacramento, CA 95826-2625

    • (916) 278-8900
    • Toll-free (877) 480-5900
    • Email Us
    • Submit a News Tip
  • Contact Us

  • About Us

    • Contact Us / Feedback
    • Coverage
    • Directions
    • Jobs & Internships
    • Mission / Vision / Core Values
    • Press
    • Staff Directory
    • Board of Directors
  • Listening Options

    • Mobile App
    • On Air Schedules
    • Smart Speakers
    • Playlist
    • Podcasts
    • RSS
  • Connect With Us

    •  Facebook
    •  Twitter
    •  Instagram
    •  YouTube
  • Donate

  • Listen

  • Newsletters

CapRadio stations are licensed to California State University, Sacramento. © 2021, Capital Public Radio. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Website Feedback FCC Public Files: KXJZ KKTO KUOP KQNC KXPR KXSR KXJS. For assistance accessing our public files, please call 916-278-8900 or email us.