The safe parking pilot program was originally approved in June 2022 and was set to last for 18 months, expiring this January. It lets government agencies, religious institutions, non-profit charitable organizations and private non-profit organizations provide homeless people living in cars with a safe place to sleep for free while they access local services. Organizations must also provide sanitary facilities and showers, trash disposal services and other amenities.
But while the ordinance has been in effect for 18 months, no organizations have tried to set up a safe parking facility. According to the county's Planning and Building department, local organizations weren’t aware of the program.
In Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting, Director John Ford said they’ll do things differently this time around.
"We will absolutely do a press release. We will reach out. Perhaps even go so far as to hold community meetings to talk about things that could be done to facilitate development of these types of facilities," he said.
On Tuesday, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to extend the pilot program for another two years.
"The purpose of structuring this as a pilot program is to determine the effectiveness of the ordinance before extending or adopting it as a permanent ordinance," according to the staff report.
1,309 unsheltered people were tallied during the county's 2022 Point in Time count.
Ford said they still have to figure out how to finance the project.
In the meantime, the Planning and Building Department will "conduct a public information effort to advertise this pilot program and to work with interested agencies to encourage development of safe parking facilities," according to the staff report.
Darlene Spoor, executive director of Arcata House Partnership, which offers a similar program in that city, said Tuesday that the cost is worth it.
"Although this comes with a cost, I think the cost is that people’s lives are saved, that people are not on the streets, that there's a positive impact to businesses who don't have people sleeping in front of their business and calling the police department to move people along. The impact is great across all of the community," she said.
The program costs the City of Arcata $478,000 a year, or $45 per night per person, Spoor said. The program began in April 2022 has since helped 128 individuals in 92 households, and provided 14,625 bed nights, meaning one person, one bed per night.
"We are not a parking lot," she said. The program offers socialization activities, 24-hour staffing, two meals a day, showers and laundry support, among other amenities.
Meanwhile, Ford said getting approval to run a safe parking facility under Humboldt County's pilot program is simple and involves developing operations plans that "demonstrate how it complies with the provisions of the ordinance."
That can then be brought to the Planning and Building Department for review and approval, and a zoning clearance certificate can be issued over the counter.