Planned micro communities for homeless people in Sacramento could be shelved
A group of micro communities slated to go up in Sacramento as temporary homeless shelters could now be shelved.
One of the micro communities is set to be built on Arena Boulevard.
Now Lisa Kaplan, who represents the Natomas district where the site is located, is seeking to claw back the ordinance that allowed the city manager to place it there without city council approval.
"I get we need more homeless shelters, but my residents want investment in public safety," Kaplan said.
The planned micro community and three others within city limits were approved by the city manager last year without council approval as part of a Sacramento streamlining ordinance passed in 2023 to prevent NIMBYism. Now Kaplan wants to claw back the law and give the council control again. She says she would vote against the current Arena Boulevard micro community.
"And so some may call it NIMBYism and I call it, one, I need to protect our taxpayer dollars and two, I need to protect the unhoused and make sure when they come into shelter we can maximize their success," Kaplan said.
Kaplan says the temporary homeless site is also within 500 feet of a park, which state law prevents. There are currently no other temporary homeless shelters in Kaplan's district.
"And when we just say 'oh, everyone has to some.' Well, the lines change," Kaplan said. "Councilmember Angelique Ashby had a shelter and created housing for women and children in District 1. The redistricting put it in District 3."
"I fully support the 2023 City policy on the siting of homeless facilities," Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty said in a statement. "I appreciate then-Mayor Steinberg's leadership on this. Because of this streamlined policy, we have made significant progress addressing homelessness. Over the past 15 months, we've opened more than 500 new beds. And we've embraced a solid 6-point plan to create 600 more beds, with a focus on homeless seniors."
Kaplan is asking the mayor to put her request for a vote on clawing back the ordinance on a council agenda before April, when construction is set to begin for the micro community.