Developer seeks funds for tiny homes village for homeless in Santa Rosa

A sliver of vacant land at the northern edge of Santa Rosa could serve as a proving ground for Sonoma County’s burgeoning idea to transform empty lots into villages of tiny houses for homeless people.

The Board of Supervisors last summer launched the idea to build tiny homes on a plot of government land at the county’s sprawling administration complex, with a focus on housing homeless veterans. Now a local nonprofit affordable housing developer that won the county’s bid in June to build the structures is vying for highly competitive local housing funds to make it a reality.

“We came up with this idea to design these freestanding little houses with a goal of not only helping people out of homelessness, but designing them in a way that helps provide stability and community,” said Paula Cook, executive director of Community Housing Sonoma County, which is developing the project. “There is such a tremendous need to provide housing and services for homeless veterans.”

The temporary test site, near the intersection of Mendocino Avenue and Chanate Road, would allow the nonprofit to build a cluster of 12 tiny homes - to be named Veterans Village - and allow 12 homeless people to live there for two years until approvals are cleared for a planned permanent site in southwest Santa Rosa.

Eventually, a 2.5-acre property on West Hearn Avenue at the edge of Roseland will permanently house the 12 structures, in addition to 20 more expected to be developed in the next two years. Long-term plans for the county-owned test parcel - a new courthouse is set to be constructed nearby - prohibit the village from remaining there permanently, county officials said.

The nonprofit’s ability to develop the project rests heavily on qualifying for $1.75 million in county affordable housing money, Cook said. In total, the 32-unit project on West Hearn Avenue is expected to cost an estimated $4.5 million, and house 32 veterans. Local affordable housing money will help the nonprofit qualify for additional funding from state sources and private bank financing, Cook said.

Although plans are underway, the nonprofit must still apply for the local affordable housing money.

Local funding applications are due next week, and the Board of Supervisors is expected to award the money in November. Cook said if the nonprofit gets funded, it will hire a construction company to build the modular units, and tenants would start moving in by March.

To qualify, veterans must meet income requirements for low-income housing vouchers, and they will be required to pay 30 percent of their income for rent. Plans call for solar-powered units with battery storage and backup generator power. The structures are to be clustered in three groups of four, connected with a deck and accessible by wheelchair.

Many of Sonoma County’s homeless veterans served in the Vietnam War era, and have disabling physical and mental health conditions, officials said.

County supervisors said if successful, the development could be replicated on other vacant county-owned land or serve as a model should cities opt to launch similar projects. The concept gained support from the Board of Supervisors last June amid Sonoma County’s booming housing market, which has driven up the cost of rent and prompted evictions across the county. That trend has led to new cases of homelessness, according to some housing advocates and county officials.

“We have to look at different ways of housing our citizens, and I think trying this out on public property is pretty cool,” said Supervisor Shirlee Zane, who helped spearhead the project on the board. “We have to find housing as rapidly as we can, and this is just one more way we can do it.”

The project comes months after the transformation of The Palms Inn, a former motel that now provides stable housing for homeless people and low-income veterans.

The Veterans Village project is expected to operate under a similar model, with the Department of Veterans Affairs providing social services as well as mental and physical health care, and a nonprofit running daily operations. The county provided land use expertise for both projects in the beginning.

Annual operations are expected to cost around $110,000, to be paid by veterans and their housing vouchers.

“We’re really excited about this ... We’re building these houses with connected porches,” said Yohan Morgan, a longtime affordable housing developer for Burbank Housing, who is now the project manager for Veterans Village. “There’s this weird balance between veterans not trusting other people because they’ve either been in war or because they’ve been homeless, but there is also a need for connection with other people. We believe this housing will help connect people and build that trust.”

You can reach Staff Writer Angela Hart at 707-526-8503 or angela.hart@pressdemocrat.com.