Rohnert Park to clear homeless camp ahead of city council discussion

Growing concern over dozens of homeless residents setting up camp at a Rohnert Park commuter parking lot has prompted the city to clear the encampment, issue citations and pursue housing for those living there.

The city will hold a special council meeting on Tuesday to discuss potential short- and long-term housing sites, a first for Rohnert Park.

Sonoma County’s third-largest city has no homeless shelter and refers those in need of housing to Santa Rosa, Petaluma or Sonoma County, which have permanent and temporary shelters and homeless social services.

In late August, an encampment at the Roberts Lake Park and Ride began attracting complaints and city attention as it grew to about 20 tents and about 10 vehicles. Caltrans and Burlington Coat Factory had recently cleared out encampments on their properties, the city said, pushing some of those into city-owned land, including the parking lot along Highway 101 used mostly by commuters.

Concerns over the safety of the site prompted the city Wednesday to announce it plans to close the camp Friday morning.

“This site poses health and safety risks due to its proximity and access to the SMART tracks and crossing,” the city said in an advisory posted at the site and on Nixle. “In the past two years, there have been five deaths at that crossing, including two individuals who were experiencing homelessness. For this reason, the City will be closing this to site to all public access.”

The warning said that the city had offered shelter to all people at the site and that it has worked with the county health department to offer COVID testing, masks and education to camp residents.

The city began warning those staying there that overnight parking wasn’t allowed and issued citations after a few days. City workers also have been cleaning up trash and other debris at the site for health and safety reasons.

Court decisions prevent cities from remove those living on public property without offering other housing options. With no shelter in town, Rohnert Park has worked with the county and other cities to find housing for several of those who had been camping at the site.

The Catholic Charities Homeless Outreach Services Team has been visiting the site nearly every day, a city spokesman said, and is working to find shelter, housing and other services. COVID infections at the Sam Jones shelter in Santa Rosa have reduced the number of beds available, though.

At Tuesday’s special council meeting, staff members will present potential options for short-term and permanent housing, including the identification of potential sites within the city and funding availability.

A staff report on the specifics will be posted on the city’s website.

The 2:30 p.m. meeting at City Hall also will be streamed online. Residents may email comments before the meeting to publiccomment@rpcity.org or speak at the meeting.

With an estimated 250 homeless residents, Rohnert Park designated $1.3 million in its budget to provide homeless housing and other services. In addition, the city has funding from a statewide grant from the $3.5 billion California Home Key homelss program.

The city also sponsors a Homelessness Roundtable, a group that works to address homeless issues.

You can reach Staff Writer Lori A. Carter at 707-521-5470 or lori.carter@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @loriacarter.