Santa Clara County supervisors are looking into new funding for developing “safe parking” sites countywide, where people living in cars and recreational vehicles can stay overnight and possibly throughout the day.
The number of residents living in cars and RVs has gone from 8 percent in 2015 and 2017 to 18 percent in 2019, according to figures reported in bi-annual homeless census reports.
Supervisor Joseph Simitian is asking county staff to study funding opportunities to support safe parking lots countywide, and bring back a detailed proposal to the board at a future meeting.
The additional funding would be aimed at eliminating barriers for creating new lots, including funding to identify or lease new parking lots.
“(If) we can provide one more option to give them a safe, permitted place to be, where there is case management that can lead them to a better place in their lives, then let’s get some of those obstacles out of the way,” said Simitian.
Cities like San Jose, Morgan Hill and Mountain View currently have safe parking programs.
Last year, the county pitched in $287,525 toward a two-year safe parking pilot program in Mountain View run by the nonprofit Move Mountain View. The city of Mountain View also contributed $55,000 to the program.
But last week, Move Mountain View said the organization’s insurer will stop covering the operation of the city’s three safe parking lots that offer spaces for up to 70 overnight RVs, and is looking for another provider.
Simitian’s proposal also calls for helping organizations with insurance coverage issues.
Supervisor Dave Cortese, who was supportive of the proposal, said the county should look into the use of its own parking lots for overnight programs, pointing to lots at 70. West Hedding in San Jose and at the Elmwood Correctional Facility in Milpitas.
Supervisor Cindy Chavez said she was supportive of the proposal but concerned that such funding might “reward” cities that exacerbate issues for homeless people or push RVs into other cities. She pointed to ordinances in Mountain View, East Palo Alto and Berkley that ban oversize vehicles from parking on some city streets.
“Mountain View restricting RVs on their streets…they did that without having a place for the RVs to go, and I worry other cities will get impacted,” said Chavez. “What I don’t want to do is reward behavior that isn’t aligned with what we’re trying to accomplish.”