Neighbors of Fairfield's Paradise Valley community packed a town hall meeting Wednesday night concerning the proposed Vista Ridge project, a permanent supportive housing community to be built at the site of the existing SureStay hotel on North Texas Street.

The project developers, Danco, want to turn 100 hotel guest rooms into 50 permanent, one-bedroom homes to support people who are transitioning out of homelessness.

The Vista Ridge proposal is a part of California's Homekey+ program, which has helped secure housing for 15,000 people to date.

Tuesday night, the Fairfield city council voted 4-2 to approve a zoning change needed to allow the project to move forward.

Mayor Catherine Moy and Vice Mayor Pam Bertani were the "no" votes.

Wednesday night, the two organized a town hall meeting with Paradise Valley residents who live just about a mile from the hotel site.

"We need to talk about this," Bertani said while opening Wednesday's meeting.

The room was so full that they had to remove a divider to allow more people to come in.

"My disappointment is in the failure to reach out to this community, to have this meeting. It's not rocket science," Bertani said.

Bertani and Moy said their 'no' votes on the rezoning approval were because the developer had not engaged in any community meetings with Paradise Valley neighbors, which Danco said it would do in February.

Danco representatives attended the meeting on Wednesday and attempted to answer the questions of frustrated community members.

"We had not spoken with the community about this. They didn't know," Moy said.

The total project development will be around $26 million. The City of Fairfield has committed $1.53 million to the rehabilitation of this project, which has received no taxpayer funding.

Vista Ridge will offer on-site services tailored to the needs of veterans, those experiencing behavioral or mental health challenges, and unhoused individuals.

"All veterans that are homeless need help can go there, but instead, are you making more money on sex predators, criminals and other deviants?" one neighbor asked Danco at Wednesday's meeting.

Mayor Moy pointed out her concerns about the state's "housing first" model.

Moy says under it, registered sex offenders, active drug users and non-Fairfield residents will be allowed to participate in the permanent housing program.

Paradise Valley neighbors worry the proposed facility with low barriers for admittance will come with crime.

"I'm very concerned about what is happening to our community. Why that hotel? Why don't you pick one in the middle of nowhere instead of right in our neighborhood?" said another neighbor at the meeting, met with a round of applause and cheers.

Cameron Dart, a Danco representative, answered her question.

"The hotel is conveniently located next to grocery stores, bus stops, pharmacies. The only way to access this resource would be to pick a location strategically located, such as this one. We can't just throw them in the middle of nowhere, it doesn't work," said Dart in response.

Project representatives say their data shows up to 98% of participants do not end up back on the streets.

"If you look at our history under this program, permanent supportive housing, we've done, as humbly as I can say, a very good job operating those properties," Dart said.

Danco representatives also emphasized that the facility is not a homeless shelter. Participants have to be referred to the program. They say right now, there are 417 people unhoused in Fairfield who are in the queue for this program. Of those, 14 are veterans. They said they would get referred first.

On the issue of safety, representatives said there is 24/7 security and services on site.

"The question is are you gonna believe research and facts, or are you going to believe fear mongering?" asked one neighbor in support of the project, met by boo's and shouting from the crowded room.

Frustration was on full display in Fairfield. Mayor Moy said it's clear that more transparency and community engagement are needed.

She does not support the "housing first" model and says in other cities, it Homekey projects like this have resulted in overdose deaths and an increase in calls to 911 for crime.

"I was overwhelmed by the response here. I have not seen this in a town hall meeting ever," Moy said.

Even though the zoning change was approved by the city council, this project is not a done deal.

"What exactly are the next steps? It's not entirely clear," I asked Moy.

"It isn't. The next for me is I am going to put on an item on the agenda to put this to a vote of the people," Moy said.

She says she hopes that can happen in the next two weeks. In the meantime, the city manager says the project's next approvals lie with Fairfield's planning commission.

Danco and city representatives plan to host more community town hall meetings on the project in the near future.