Tiny home village sits empty as delays, costs mount for Sacramento homelessness project

Nearly one year after Sacramento County announced plans to build a village of tiny homes for unhoused residents in South Sacramento, the site remains closed and the project faces mounting delays and cost overruns.

Those include an additional $500,000 the county is paying for a private security firm to guard the rows of 100 empty and locked sleeping cabins at Florin and Power Inn roads, according to a county spokesperson. 

Given the region’s growing homelessness emergency, advocates say the county must move faster and be more creative to open the site, which had been expected to open as early as last summer but now might stay shuttered until late this spring. 

County officials, meanwhile, say they are moving as quickly as possible but that site delays — everything from the operator changing design plans to difficulty acquiring construction materials — are out of their control.

“It’s frustrating that resources are just sitting there,” said Fatemah Martinez, founder of the nonprofit South Sacramento Homeless Assistance Resource Team. “We have to be bold and brave as we do this stuff. Pivot. Be malleable.”

A tent outside the fence of a lot containing empty sleeping cabins at Florin Rd. and Power Inn Rd. on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023.Andrew Nixon / CapRadio

County spokesperson Janna Haynes says officials share that frustration. But she adds that building a successful community from scratch “doesn’t happen overnight.” 

“Unfortunately delays are a part of the experience, particularly of standing up a brand new project like this,” Haynes added while touring the site last week. “We’ve never done this. A lot of the delays were completely unforeseen.” 

The stakes are high for the project and surrounding community. Illegal encampments dot South Sacramento’s commercial corridors, levees and railways. For months, unhoused residents have camped outside the project site, some hoping to be first in line to move in once it eventually opens.

The proposal, which county officials call a “Safe Stay Community,” drew fierce neighborhood opposition before a divided Board of Supervisors eventually voted to approve $7.6 million for the project last June. That approval came after supervisors agreed to more stringent security measures.

Andy Schroeder, 47, sleeps in a parking lot just yards from the fenced-off aluminum homes, using a sleeping bag as his only shelter. He says he hopes to move into the new community.

“It would give me some structure and some purpose,” said Schroeder, who says he’s spent more than a decade without a permanent home.

Andy Schroeder, 47, has been without permanent shelter for more than 10 years.Andrew Nixon/CapRadio

A new sanctioned encampment model 

County officials say the future tiny home village with its temporary shelter and onsite health assessments will help people transition to permanent housing and be a new model for sanctioned encampments in the region. 

The project is the county’s first attempt to open an outdoor homeless encampment instead of a traditional indoor congregate shelter. It also follows years of criticism from advocates and elected leaders in the city of Sacramento, who say the county hasn’t done enough to confront the region’s homelessness crisis. 

Last June, Supervisors required officials to build hard-sided structures that could withstand the wind and rain as part of approving the project. 

They rejected using the city of Sacramento’s model, which allows for outdoor tent encampments or “safe grounds.” Strong winds and rising water forced the evacuation of the city’s Miller Park safe ground this winter.  

At the future county site, one or two adults will live in each of the shed-sized aluminum cabins, which lock from the inside and are designed to offer greater privacy and security for the up to 125 unhoused people who move in. Unhoused residents often reject large group shelters due to unsanitary and unsafe conditions.  

Once open, it will provide residents with case management, meals, showers, bathrooms and 24-7 security. Officials describe it as a “stepping stone” to permanent housing and say the site will remain open for up to two years. Residents would be assessed onsite, referred and given transportation to any needed health services including for mental health or drug treatment.

Empty sleeping cabins at Florin Rd. and Power Inn Rd. in Sacramento County on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023.Andrew Nixon / CapRadio

Why can’t the county move faster? 

Homeless advocates like Martinez from the South Sacramento nonprofit say the county should do what it can to open the site now. She urged officials to bring portable restrooms and showers to the site while the county navigates the lengthy permit process for permanent water, sewer and electrical hook-ups. 

Haynes, the county spokesperson, says officials can’t open the tiny homes until electrical work is completed and provides them with heat and cooling, a project requirement. She added that permits have yet to be issued for utility work at the site. 

Haynes said project delays started last summer after the site’s operator City Net changed the county’s design plans based on its experience managing encampments in other communities. She said the county has also had material delays and multiple contractors back out of work. 

“We think that everything that has happened is ultimately going to lead to a more successful facility,” Haynes added. 

Some have asked why the county can’t move faster in dealing with its own permitting department. 

“Why can’t the Board of Supervisors expedite that?” said Bob Erlenbusch, executive director of the Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness. 

Haynes said the board “has asked that we get the sites open as soon as possible.”  

The safe stay community at Florin and Power Inn roads won’t be the last in South Sacramento. This summer, the county plans to open 45 additional sleeping cabins at 7001 East Parkway. Up to 56 people are expected to live at that site near Florin Road and Highway 99. 

Homelessness resources:

• Sacramento County has a frequently asked questions page discussing its sanctioned encampment plans. It also maintains a ‘What You Can Do’ website on how to volunteer at homeless shelters and for reporting concerns about encampments.
• Additionally, Sacramento County has a Homeless Initiatives website detailing its efforts to address the ongoing crisis. 
• The city of Sacramento emergency services website has information about a range of homeless services, including crisis mental health centers, seasonal respite centers and homeless shelters for adults, families, youth, pregnant people and survivors of domestic violence. 
• The city of Sacramento also has a frequently asked questions website addressing concerns about homeless encampments. 

Contact CapRadio reporter Chris Nichols at [email protected]