Sonoma County identifies three homes in Santa Rosa, Cotati as potential housing for Joe Rodota Trail homeless

Sonoma County leaders will consider purchasing three large homes in Santa Rosa and Cotati to house some people living in the sprawling homeless encampment along the Joe Rodota Trail in west Santa Rosa, documents released late Thursday revealed.

The houses, listed at a combined $3.14 million, are part of a nearly $12 million suite of measures proposed by county staff to address the camp, which has grown to 220 people during the past several months and contributed to what county officials have called a public health crisis.

Two of the homes are in central Santa Rosa: a seven-bedroom, three-bathroom home at 811 Davis St., listed on Zillow at $999,000; and a Craftsman-style, six-bedroom home at 866 Sonoma Ave., priced at $1,150,000. The third, a complex of homes at 8190 Arthur St. in Cotati, is listed at $995,000.

The county plans to spend up to $5 million to buy up to six large, multibedroom homes to serve up to 60 people living on the Joe Rodota Trail, according to county documents presented during a Dec. 23 meeting. The county also continues to pursue at least two sites for temporary, sanctioned encampments, as well as a program to lease rental properties for trail residents.

Supervisor Lynda Hopkins, whose district encompasses the trail, said the point of the ?$11.63 million in solutions approved at the meeting was to provide different options. The three homes being eyed by the county would provide so-called congregate housing, which offers the opportunity for groups of trail residents to move in together.

“It maintains the sense of community,” Hopkins said in a phone interview Thursday following the 6 p.m. release of the sites. “That support system is critical to prevent recidivism.”

The $5 million earmarked to purchase homes includes $50,000 for furniture. It comes from a combination of state grants intended for permanent supportive housing and other state money for ongoing operational costs related to housing.

Hopkins called the selection of the three houses for county review “just the start of the process,” as the county continues to look at what’s available.

“This is meeting a critical need for folks who are ready to move into housing,” Hopkins said.

The revelation of the three sites is sure to draw concerns from neighbors. Even the idea of buying homes for trail residents has already yielded a sharp rebuke from a community group that has long advocated for a more firm approach to the trail camp.

Brenda Gilchrist, co-founder of Citizens for Action Now, says her organization objects to using taxpayer dollars to buy shelter or housing for homeless residents. In a December email, she said the encampment along the Joe Rodota Trail is “a drug addiction, lawlessness and vagrancy issue that will not be solved by housing first or houses/shelters and sanctioned encampments or tent cities.”

If the county decides to purchase homes, Gilchrist said there should be a high barrier to entry and strict rules for those living in the houses or rental properties.

“Low or no barrier shelter or housing or encampment will result in the same criminal activities, lawlessness and vagrancy issues that impacted the homeowners and renters that lived behind and/or around the (Joe Rodota Trail) area,” Gilchrist said in an email late last week.

Barbie Robinson, director of the county Department of Health Services, was not available for comment Thursday about the rules that might be associated with the new homes. Robinson had worked with Community Development Commission Executive Director Geoffrey Ross to put forward measures, including the home purchases, intended to address the Joe Rodota Trail encampment. The county announced Ross’ resignation Thursday afternoon.

Hopkins said she didn’t know about rules related to houses, but said potential sanctioned encampments would have rules, and chores, to establish a sort of community feel.

David Martin, a trail camp resident for the past five months, said he and many of his fellow campers aren’t good with orders, saying “we feel beat up by society.”

“All the hours I worked as a truck driver, where did it get me?” he asked, adding that the price of housing has left many in the homeless community feeling hopeless.