Section of Joe Rodota Trail in Santa Rosa closed to clear homeless camp on private property

Authorities have closed parts of the Joe Rodota Trail in Santa Rosa to clear a large homeless encampment on nearby private property, according to Sonoma County Regional Parks.

On Thursday, the agency fenced off sections of the trail from Roberts Avenue to North Dutton Avenue and from North Dutton to Roseland Avenue.

Regional Parks officials said they were aiming to reopen the trail by Monday morning. But Santa Rosa police, who are in charge of encampment enforcement at the property near the trail, said there were no plans to disband the roughly 70-person tent camp on Friday or over the weekend.

Still, police said they are working with the property owner on a strategy to remove people from the former Shamrock Materials lot just south of Highway 12 and west of Highway 101. That includes erecting a barrier around the property to ensure homeless residents don’t return.

Police said officers have in recent weeks warned campers to leave the property at 285 Roberts Ave. and recently issued citations for trespassing. Others may have been arrested for outstanding warrants or on other charges, police said.

Santa Rosa Sgt. Josh Ludtke said the camp could be disbanded “in the near future” but declined to provide a specific timeline.

“We’re trying to give everybody the opportunity to leave on their own,” Ludtke said.

The lot is owned by Roberts Avenue Properties, according to the county assessor’s office. That entity was registered by Eugene Ceccotti, former president of Shamrock Materials, according to county business records.

Attempts to reach Ceccotti were unsuccessful.

Sarah Phelps, a marketing specialist with Regional Parks, said the agency plans to keep the trail fenced off until after the encampment is cleared to prevent homeless residents there from setting up camp along Joe Rodota. Regional Parks will give a public update if the trail is expected to remain closed into next week, she said.

Ludtke said police have been coordinating with outreach teams to offer campers shelter and services, even though the city is under no legal obligation to do so because the encampment is on private property. But most residents have declined shelter beds, he said.

Homeless people turn down placements at group shelters — including the city’s Samuel Jones Hall — for a variety reasons, ranging from health and safety concerns to a reluctance to follow curfews and other rules. Some may have mental health or mood disorders that make it difficult to live in close quarters with others.

The county only has enough emergency or transitional shelter beds for about a third of the region’s some 2,700 unhoused people, according to the most recent available homelessness data from 2020. Over half of the county’s homeless population lives in Santa Rosa.

Jalon Luque, a 25-year-old camp resident, moved to the Roberts Avenue encampment from a recently opened city-sanctioned homeless camp in Rohnert Park. He said he left because other residents there stole his money and called him racist slurs.

On Friday, he packed up his belongings at the former Shamrock property to avoid a citation. He was trying to get a hold of a friend with a car to give him a ride, but was unsure where to go next.

“That’s just kind of where I’m at right now,” he said.

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