County authorizes temporary homeless shelter near Oakmont

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors addressed the county’s exploding homeless problem — exemplified by the problematic tent city along the Joe Rodota Trail in Santa Rosa — by approving Tuesday a shelter at Sonoma Valley’s Los Guilicos Campus. Approved by a 4-1 vote, the plan calls for placing 30 fabricated units, housing up to 60, at the Pythian Road site near Oakmont. 

First District Supervisor Susan Gorin, who represents the area, was the lone dissenter. “I argued passionately against this,” she said. “This location is inadequately served by public transportation and has no services.”

The board faced a mandate of clearing the Rodota Trail by January 31. Estimates peg the number of homeless there at over 200.

In December, the board authorized $11.6 million to establish outdoor shelter area. It has spent about $2 million to acquire land.

At their Tuesday meeting, members were “faced with two terrible choices for the setup for an emergency encampment,” Gorin said. Rejecting the option of a parcel near a childcare facility, they chose the Sonoma Valley location. 

After reviewing the Los Guilicos site for homeless use, both the District Attorney and Sheriff’s Office cited numerous physical problems with the location, including isolation from support and rehab services, Gorin said. “And I agreed with them.”

The supervisors agree there is a humanitarian and health crisis on the Rodota Trail and elsewhere in the County. “We need to close the trail as quickly as possible and refer our homeless residents to appropriate services and housing,” Gorin said. “(But) I strongly believe there are better choices out there, without overburdening any single neighborhood in our county.”

Gorin said the Los Guilicos campus could be the home of permanent supportive housing. “We may lose this an an option because of the hasty setup of this emergency shelter.”

Currently, there are no county plans nor funding to help any homeless person to move from Joe Rodota Trail across the county to Los Guilicos, Gorin said. “I see this as a significant problem, among many others,” Gorin said. 

The temporary encampment is to remain open until April 30.