EAST PALO ALTO
CITY COUNCIL
STAFF REPORT
DATE: April 19, 2022
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
VIA: Jaime M. Fontes, City Manager
BY: Rachel Horst, Housing and Economic Development Manager Karen Camacho, Housing Project Manager
SUBJECT: RV Safe Parking Program License & Grant Agreement for Program Extension through April 30, 2023
Recommendation
Adopt a Resolution authorizing the City Manager to:
1. Execute a Third Amendment to the License & Grant Agreement (“Third Amendment”) with Project WeHOPE, in a form approved by the City Attorney; and
2. Allocate $250,000 in Housing Successor funds to operate the RV Safe Parking Program (Program) for an additional year.
Alignment with City Council Strategic Plan
This recommendation is primarily aligned with:
Priority No. 6: Create a Healthy and Safe Community
Background
RV Safe Parking Program Extension through April 2023
On February 1, 2022, as part of a report to City Council on the City’s response to homelessness in East Palo Alto, staff made recommendations for unhoused residents in recreational vehicles (“RVs”) parked in the public right-of-way and living in encampments.
At that meeting, staff provided an update on the RV Safe Parking Program (“Program”), a temporary overnight parking program at the Tanklage site at 1798 Bay Rd. (“Property”) for individuals living in RVs operated by Project WeHOPE. The City Council directed staff to pursue an extension of the Program through April 30, 2023. Extending the Program requires the following two actions:
1.) Planning Commission approval of a Special Use Permit (“SUP”) to allow the temporary use of the Property for an additional year; and
2.) City Council approval of an updated License and Grant Agreement authorizing Project WeHOPE to operate the Program and providing a grant of $250,000 from the City’s Housing Successor Fund to support operations through April 2023.
On April 11, 2022, the Planning Commission received a Program update and authorized a new SUP to extend the Program through April 30, 2023. The Resolution has yet to be executed and is therefore not included as an attachment to this staff report.
RV Safe Parking Program Daytime Operations
In addition to operating the original overnight Program from 7:00pm to 7:00am daily, ProjectWeHOPE has operated the Program during daytime hours since April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, thus allowing RVs to remain on-site for 24 hours per day.
Daytime Program operation was authorized separately through City Council resolution (Resolution No. 49-2020) when the County Shelter-in-Place Order took effect. The City supported the costs of daytime operations from the General Fund, with funding totaling $110,731, through December 2021. Project WeHOPE does not intend to operate the Program during daytime hours if the Program is extended for an additional year.
The purpose of this staff report is to seek City Council authorization to extend the Program via an amended License & Grant Agreement (“Third Amendment”).
Analysis
Third Amendment to the License and Grant Agreement
The Third Amendment (Exhibit A to Attachment 1) extends the term of the License and Grant Agreement, authorizing Project WeHOPE to operate the Program through April 30, 2023. The Third Amendment also includes amendments to two provisions of the License and Grant Agreement to allow for minor changes to the original Program design from 2018 with the approval of the City Manager.
These amendments affect the Parking Agreement that each Program participant must sign with Project WeHOPE and the hours of Program operation. As noted above, Project WeHOPE will not operate a daytime Program but has suggested that Program participants be permitted to leave their RVs parked at the Tanklage site during the day (Program participants would not have access during the day). The original License and Grant Agreement required Program participants to vacate the site with their RVs no later than 7:00am daily.
Next Steps
If approved, the City Manager will execute the Third Amendment with Project WeHOPE. The Program will continue to operate without interruption and would allow Program participants to leave their RV parked at the Tanklage site during the day.
Fiscal Impact
The Third Amendment commits $250,000 in Housing Successor funds to Project WeHOPE to support the operation of the Program through April 2023.
Public Notice
The public was provided notice by making the agenda and report available on the City’s website and on a bulletin board located at City Hall: 2415 University Avenue, East Palo Alto.
Environmental
The action being considered does not constitute a “Project” within the meaning of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), pursuant to CEQA Guideline section 15378 (b)(5), in that it is a government administrative activity that will not result in direct or indirect changes in the environment.
Attachments
1. Resolution