Sebastopol City Council to consider moving proposed site for homeless safe parking program

The Sebastopol City Council will on Tuesday consider moving the proposed site for a safe parking program for people living out of their RVs from a lot near downtown to a vacant property about a mile away on Gravenstein Highway North.

Last month, the council unanimously approved a preliminary agreement with Sonoma Applied Village Services, a nonprofit supporting homeless people, to run the one-year pilot program on a city-owned lot at 425 Morris St., near a school and community center.

The agreement came largely in response to a growing encampment with over a dozen RVs on Morris Street.

After “substantial” community outreach to neighbors and nearby business owners with various health and safety concerns, city officials are now recommending the council move the planned program to a privately owned lot at 845 Gravenstein Highway North.

St. Vincent de Paul Society of Sonoma County is in contract to buy the property, located next to a nail salon and liquor store. Should the sale go through, the nonprofit has agreed to lease the property to Sonoma Applied Village Services, according to a city staff report.

The council will also consider a plan to clear the encampment on Morris Street and update local parking laws aimed at preventing a similar RV camp in the future.

Additionally, council members may declare a homeless emergency, which would designate the city manager to take “whatever other action is authorized” under local, state and federal law to address homelessness.

City Council will weigh the measures during a public meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Editor’s Note: St. Vincent de Paul is in contract to buy 845 Gravenstein Highway North. An earlier version of this story misstated the current ownership of the property.

You can reach Staff Writer Ethan Varian at ethan.varian@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5412. On Twitter @ethanvarian.