Sonoma County ending use of Windsor hotel as emergency homeless shelter

Sonoma County is ending the use of the Holiday Inn in Windsor as a temporary homeless shelter during the coronavirus pandemic.

Since June, the county has housed 30 to 40 unsheltered people who, though they have not been diagnosed with COVID-19, were considered at high risk of serious complications should they contract the virus. The hotel is located at 8755 Old Redwood Highway in Windsor.

No additional people will be admitted to shelter rooms as the county winds down operations. It may take until March to find a place for each current resident to live, according to information received by the town.

The county’s contract was set to run through the end of the year. The county is spending $3.2 million for homeless services, or $139 a day for each room occupied, at the Windsor hotel, Matt Brown, a county spokesman, said in May.

The Holiday Inn was one of five area lodging properties that the county is spending millions to either lease or acquire to house homeless residents.

Town staff and Windsor Police Chief Mike Raasch met regularly with shelter staff “and no major incidents or concerns were observed or reported to the town during this time,” according to a town report.

You can reach Staff Writer Kathleen Coates at kathleen.coates@pressdemocrat.com.