Sonoma County to explore purchase of Guerneville site for homeless

Sonoma County supervisors will explore the potential acquisition of a residential parcel on Armstrong Woods Road in Guerneville for development of a homeless services center, launching what’s bound to be a bruising battle with neighbors and community members opposed to the idea.

County officials, particularly west county Supervisor Lynda Hopkins, have pledged to engage the public and address community concerns before any decision is made, whether late next month or later.

But some critics already are challenging such use for the site, located across the street from the Russian River Senior Center and within a half-mile of the Guerneville School.

“I can’t say strongly enough how much I would object,” local resident and senior center client Shirley Hall, 82, told supervisors Tuesday as they announced their intention to look into a possible purchase of the property. “I would also suggest that not one of you would want to see this facility in your own neighborhood.”

The 9-acre property, listed for $995,000, includes a 1,878-square-foot custom-made house, horse stables, paddock and swimming pool, surrounded on three sides by forested hillsides.

Staff members with the county’s Community Development Commission say the house could be converted to a hub for services linking the homeless with housing, mental health treatment, education and employment aid, and other assistance necessary to help stabilize their lives. There is room to build or install a modular overnight shelter, as well.

The West County Health Centers, a nonprofit group that runs a federally funded homeless health care clinic in town, has been hoping to relocate to a shared site with a county-run service center, and has negotiated a contract on the Armstrong Woods Road property with an option to buy it.

County representatives will enter negotiations with the property seller and conduct due diligence to test the viability of the proposal.

Margaret Van Vliet, executive director of the Community Development Commission, said the earliest county supervisors could consider approving a purchase would be April 25, but only after a public hearing.

Public feedback will be taken at a community forum scheduled for 6 p.m. March 29 at Guerneville School.

The 9-acre parcel is located just over a mile north of Main Street in central Guerneville, where some homeless have made themselves unwelcome to residents and business owners because of public intoxication, littering and other behaviors. The local veterans hall, which serves as an overnight winter shelter, is believed partly responsible for drawing homeless to the area.

County officials have worked with the community for years to find an alternative location for the shelter, as well as a suitable site for a service hub to help clients access appropriate services and break out of the cycle of homelessness.

A local committee known as the River Area Shelter and Downtown Task Group was created in 2011 to analyze potential sites for homeless facilities in the Guerneville area. It settled on a list of options that included three sites on Armstrong Woods Road. The senior center and the Guerneville Community Church just south of the school were among them.

West County Community Services, a nonprofit agency that runs the winter shelter four months a year and owns and operates the senior center welcomed the homeless services proposal as a would-be neighbor, said Tim Miller, the group’s executive director.

From his perspective, the proximity of the senior center only adds to the “positive symbiosis” of putting social services, health care, shelter and other assistance together at one site.

But some fear an Armstrong Woods Road location would create significantly more foot traffic, putting seniors and school children at risk of encounters with people who may have untreated mental illnesses or be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

A Monday night assault on a 17-year-old boy by a knife-wielding homeless man in downtown Guerneville was already being cited Tuesday on social media as “ammo” in the bid to block the homeless center.

Armstrong Woods Road “is the only place my students can go” to get to and from school, Guerneville School District Superintendent Dana Pedersen said.

The 2½-mile-long, two-lane road leading to Armstrong Woods State Nature Reserve draws close to 1 million visitors a year, and is designated a “scenic corridor” by Sonoma County. Some say the service center could impact the aesthetics of the neighborhood, but also see hypocrisy in county-imposed restrictions on building and design for everyone else on the road, yet a willingness to place a social service facility there.

“I can only choose a green or a brown roof because I’m on a scenic corridor,” said Boon Hotel and Spa owner Crista Luedtke, “and now you put a homeless shelter there? I don’t see how that makes sense.”

There also are widespread doubts about the county’s transparency over its involvement in the proposed purchase. County officials say they’ve had no role in negotiations nor made any commitments to the project before Tuesday.

Rumors about a March 28 contract deadline between the seller and West County Health Centers have some believing the county already has made a backroom deal to buy the land.

County officials say they’re unaware of any deadlines and would not be subject to them anyway.

Veteran school board member Kimberly Lambert, like many in town, said she recognized the need for solutions to address the problem of homelessness.

But her priority has to be student safety, she said.

“I love our school,” said Lambert. “I love my community. My heart goes out. I know that we have to do services, but that’s just a very poor location.”

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 707-521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MaryCallahanB.