Feds agree to let Sonoma County postpone its annual homeless census

Federal officials in San Francisco have agreed to allow Sonoma County to delay its annual count of the local homeless population, with plans already in motion to clear hundreds of people camping along the Joe Rodota Trail in west Santa Rosa by the end of January.

The county’s point-?in-time count, in which volunteers fan out and tally all the homeless people they can find, has been delayed from Jan. 31 to Feb. 28. The postponement was requested Monday by county officials and was approved Friday by regional officials with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“The San Francisco Field Office believes this request is reasonable based on the circumstances,” HUD officials wrote in a memo.

The county wanted to reschedule due to the ongoing homeless emergency at the Joe Rodota Trail, where a large encampment home to about 250 people is slated to be cleared by Jan. 31. After declaring the homeless emergency on the trail on Dec. 17, the county Board of Supervisors agreed to spend about $11.6 million to fund shelter and housing options for encampment residents.

Work continued Friday to prepare the temporary sanctioned camp at the county’s Los Guilicos campus off Highway 12 across from Oakmont.

Thirty of the 48 trail campers chosen to occupy the new site will be moved over starting on Wednesday, county officials announced Friday.

You can reach Staff Writer Will Schmitt at 707-521-5207 or will.schmitt@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @wsreports.