$1.3 Million Set Aside For Temporary Sunnyvale Winter Homeless Shelter
SUNNYVALE (CBS SF) -- The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors approved funding on Tuesday for a temporary winter shelter and has their eyes set on a site in Sunnyvale, where the City Council has yet to make a decision on moving forward with the plan.
The board unanimously approved setting aside $1.3 million for the shelter that would provide 100 beds for the homeless during the cold winter months in the northern part of the county.
The shelter would be sturdy and weatherproof and another structure would be built for showers and restrooms, according to county officials.
The search comes after last year's closure of the National Guard Armory on East Maude Avenue, which is now the site of an affordable housing project, county officials said.
The shelter would be operated by the Milpitas-based nonprofit HomeFirst, which works with the county's homeless population, according to county officials.
The county identified land owned by its Roads and Airports Department at California and Fair Oaks avenues in Sunnyvale, but many residents told the board Tuesday they were against the site being close to their homes.
Supervisor Joe Simitian called to eliminate the site at California and Fair Oaks avenues, but only if the Sunnyvale City Council agrees to have the shelter set up at the former Onizuka Air Force Station, which some residents said was a better location.
The former Onizuka Air Force Station is a 4.6-acre property near Mathilda Avenue and state Highway 237 that closed in 2011.
The City Council was originally scheduled to weigh in on the Fair Oaks and California avenues site during its meeting Tuesday evening but deferred discussion on the plan to next week's meeting to allow the public to be notified of the proposed Onizuka site, Mayor Jim Griffith said.
The California and Fair Oaks avenues site is a small triangular piece of land that is not being used and isn't easily accessible by public transportation, a resource the homeless depend on, Griffith said.
Some families have front yards only 30 feet away from the site and there are other concerns surrounding traffic and safety, he said.
While the Onizuka property is near public transportation, there are few amenities nearby such as food or medical services, Griffith said.
It is in an industrial area known as Moffett Park and within a quarter-mile of major companies including Google, Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo, according to Griffith.
Another consideration is the city's Public Lands for Public Use Act, a ballot initiative set to appear on the November 2016 ballot, which would impose restrictions on any sale or lease by the city for most of its public land, Griffith said.
The measure would require a public vote for the sale, lease, lease extension, lease renewal, land swap or transfer of certain types of city property, city officials said.
"If a cold weather shelter is operating after the act passes then the city can never make its own decisions on how to use that land," Griffith said.
The selected site needs to be prepared in time for the start of the cold weather shelter program scheduled from Nov. 30 to March 31, 2016, and comply with the California Environmental Quality Act.
The board is scheduled hold a final vote on the site on Sept. 15.
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