Marin County town ready to restore park after homeless camp closure

Sausalito is preparing to restore the grounds at Marinship Park now that the city-run homeless encampment has closed.

Homeless residents at the former city-sanctioned site left Aug. 15. The tennis courts and the adjacent park surrounded by fencing are now closed, with signs notifying the public that the park is off limits for cleanup and restoration.

The city's public works and parks and recreation departments are assisting in the effort. There is no estimated date to reopen.

"The current status of Marinship Park is that it is closed and no longer an encampment," said Mayor Janelle Kellman said Tuesday. "No one is living there."

The closure is the result of an approximately $500,000 settlement between Sausalito and the California Homeless Union. The settlement in the civil rights case is being distributed as direct housing assistance for current and former campers at Marinship Park. The agreement, which brought to an end to the suit filed in February 2021, calls for one-time, $18,000 housing stipends for qualifying participants.

The agreement specifies that 30 people who were current or former residents of the camp at the time of its closure will receive a rehousing stipend. The recipients will make their own decision about how to use the funds in their housing efforts.

Homeless union attorney Anthony Prince said "thousands of dollars" had already been spent getting the former camp residents into hotels and other temporary housing arrangements. Many of the homeless are being housed outside of the county.

He said the union has faced challenges combating prejudice against the homeless residents by housing providers and hotels. The effort has taken more time because each person has been allowed to make their own housing decisions.

"We don't want anyone to be outdoors after everything they've been through," he said. "I can tell you every nickel that has been spent on housing, shelter or housing related expenses."

Prince said the union attempted to extend the closure deadline, but the city denied the request.

"They put a lot of pressure on us. We made it very clear to them that date was not enough time to make the necessary arrangements that would need to be made," he said. "But the union has been working feverishly to get our people into some indoor shelter."

The city announced last week that the residents moved into "temporary housing situations," but did not offer specifics about where the residents had gone. The union is required to file monthly updates with the city per the agreement, but the city had not yet received a report from the union about the housing details.

On Tuesday, former resident James LeBlanc peered through the chain-link fence toward a section of the tennis court where he previously lived in a tent. LeBlanc said he lived at a city-sanctioned campsite at Dunphy Park over a year ago and moved to the Marinship Park grass field, and then to the tennis courts, as many of the campers did when the grass area was closed to camping.

LaBlanc said he began splitting his time on a houseboat moored in Richardson Bay owned by someone who died to keep it from being destroyed. About two months ago, his tent at the tennis courts was removed and he was issued a notice that informed him he was no longer a resident. As a result he received no settlement money, he said.

"Why didn't I? That's a good question. I wish I could answer that," LeBlanc said. "I really don't care too much about money, I just wish I wasn't left out of a decision that was made on my behalf."

The settlement does not resolve the constitutionality of camping in public places or the ongoing issue of homelessness in Sausalito, Prince said. He said he expected the fight over housing to continue until the homeless could secure leases, other traditional rental apartment units or other forms of acceptable housing.

The original lawsuit was filed to block a daytime camping ban intended to remove more than 20 unhoused people who had taken up residence at Dunphy Park in 2021. The camp was moved to Marinship Park because of concerns about contamination from a nearby boat crushing operation.

The camp ballooned to 40 to 50 people and it was moved to the tennis courts because of concerns about fecal contamination. The city was under a preliminary injunction barring it from enforcing a daytime camping ban or clearing the camp. It declared a state of emergency over the camp in February.

In the last month, the population of the camp waned to about 14 people.

Sausalito has spent approximately $1.5 million on homeless camps in the city in recent years, the costs related to management, security and legal fees. The city's efforts with homelessness were supplemented by $167,000 in county funds in the last year.