12/04/2023 www.cityofpaloalto.org
Congregation-Based
Safe Parking
City Council
Rachael Tanner
2 RECOMMENDATION
The Planning and Transportation Commission & staff
recommend that the Council
A. Adopt the Ordinance amending PAMC Section 18.42.160 to permanently establish congregation-based safe parking
B. Consider incorporating into the ordinance a minimum
radius between permitted congregation-based safe parking locations
C. Staff further recommend the Council consider options to explore expansion of Safe Parking in Palo Alto, such as increasing the footprint of Safe Parking at the Geng Road site.
PROGRAM BACKGROUND + SERVICES
Summation of the Current Policy + Programs
12/04/2023 www.cityofpaloalto.org
4 SAFE PARKING
• Safe parking programs provide parking lots where unhoused program participants dwelling in their vehicles can park, connect to services, and, ultimately, find secure and stable housing
• Developed due to the needs of unhoused Palo Altans
5 CURRENT SAFE PARKING SITES IN PALO ALTO
2 Types of Safe Parking
Programs in Palo Alto:
• Congregation-Based: At
churches or religious
institutions; total of 4 sites
• 24-Hour: On publicly
owned parking lots; 1 site
at 2000 Geng Rd.
Table 1: Active Congregation-Based Safe Parking Permits in Palo Alto Congregation Name Address in Palo
Alto
Submission
Date
Approval
Date
Congregation Etz
Chayim
4161 Alma
Street
April 12,
2023
June 14,
2023
First Congregational
Church of Palo Alto
1985 Louis Road May 11,
2022
July 21,
2022
Highway Community 3373 Middlefield
Road
November 9,
2020
March 1,
2021
Unitarian Universalist
Church of Palo Alto
505 E.
Charleston Road
February 25,
2021
May 12,
2021
1 TITLE CALIBRI SIZE 32
MAP OF CURRENT SAFE PARKING SITES IN PALO ALTO
7 • The Point In Time Count of RVs, cars, and vans in Santa Clara County & Palo Alto • RVs represent 68% of vehicles in Palo Alto in which unhoused persons were sheltering and 66% in Santa Clara County
Notes on the data: (1) The Point-in-Time Count was conducted in Santa Clara County on the morning of January 24-25, 2023 (2) The unsheltered count included a count of vehicles in safe parking lots and on streets by census tract.
Unhoused Persons in Palo Alto
• 206 people counted included
• 187 unsheltered
• 181 of which were
sleeping in 102 vehicles--
87% percent of those
persons were in RVs
SAFE PARKING IN CONTEXT – POINT IN TIME COUNT
2023 PIT
Vehicle Counts
SCC Total City of Palo
Alto
RVs 1,715 69
Cars 584 15
Vans 304 18
Total Vehicles 2,603 102
8 • In FY23, County safe parking programs experienced 34% exits to housing; 14% in FY22.
• Data comes from 3 safe parking program operators (Amigos de Guadalupe, Move Mountain View, South County Compassion Center)
Santa Clara County Safe Parking Programs FY23 FY22
Unique Individuals Served 540 534
Unique Households Served 337 326
Households Affiliated with the City of Palo Alto* 46 42 Percent of all Clients who Exited to Permanent Housing 34% 14% Total Capacity (Parking Spaces) 192 192
Average Length of Enrollment (Days) 145 days 125 days
Utilization 82% 85%
Notes on Data (1) Average length of enrollment is based on head of household project start and exit dates. (2) Households may have multiple enrollments in the same program or other programs; data by fiscal year is duplicated by the most recent enrollment. (3) Utilization is calculated as total days enrolled divided by cumulative capacity.
SAFE PARKING IN CONTEXT – SANTA CLARA COUNTY
9 Table 2: Participants and Placements 1/1/2021 to 6/30/2023 Congregation Name Unique
Clients
Households Positive Placements Percent Positive
First Congregational 8 5 4 50%
Unitarian Universalist 8 8 2 25%
Highway Community 21 19 11 52%
Total 37 25 17 45%
• The table shows exits to positive placements (exit to housing designed for human habitation)
• Note: Participants may choose to exit the program before finding housing or to not report their status to the program
CONGREGATION-BASED SAFE PARKING PARTICIPANTS IN PALO ALTO 10 Table 3: Participants and Placements 1/1/2021 to 6/30/2023 Safe Parking
Site
Total
Individuals
Total
Households
Palo Alto Affiliated Positive
Placements
(Individuals)
Nights
provided
Occupancy
Rate
Individuals Household
Highway 21 19 12 10 11 1,256 41.80%
Unitarian
Universalist
8 8 4 4 2 1,249 51.10%
First
Congregation
8 5 6 5 4 343 34.70%
Geng Road 84 25 43 16 13 8,849 64.60%
Total 121 57 65 35 30 11,697 -
This table shows program data including on participants with a Palo Alto affiliation
SAFE PARKING PARTICIPANTS IN PALO ALTO
DRAFT ORDINANCE
Recommended for Adoption
12/04/2023 www.cityofpaloalto.org
12 - Vehicle Idling – Allowed in accordance
with PAMC
- Personal property – All personal property
shall be stored in vehicles
- PTC Recommendation: Clarify that items
can be used outside of vehicles, such as a
chair or children’s toys, but must be stored
during quiet hours
- Fire – No open flames or fires are allowed
- Lot Monitoring – Require lot monitoring
No Changes
• Appeal Distance – Remains 600 ft
• No Fee Permit – Do not charge
applicants for the permit
Minor Operational Changes
- Quiet Hours – 10 p. m. to 7:00 a.m.
- Restroom siting – Where feasible,
portable restrooms should be sited
away from neighboring residences
and street frontages
- Annual Reporting – Require annual
report.
PROPOSED POLICY – OPERATIONAL CHANGES
13 Capacity
• The PTC recommended gradually
increasing the vehicle hosting capacity
per each site per year of operation:
• First Year – 4 vehicles
• Second Year – 6 vehicles
• Third Year – 8 vehicles
• This gives operators the opportunity to
host more households, but not an
obligation to do so.
• The parking lot would need to meet the
spacing requirements to host more
vehicles.
PROPOSED POLICY – CAPACITY & DURATION
• The PTC’s intention was to create an
appealable path to up to 8 vehicles.
• To address this, Council may direct staff
to amend the ordinance to state that:
• After 12 and 24 months of
operation, the Director will review
the record and, if no issues are
found, mail notice of intent to
increase the permitted number of
vehicles.
• This decision is appealable to the
City Council.
14 Permit Duration
• No trial period
• Permit valid until revoked, change of
ownership (the permit is not
transferrable), or abandoned
PROPOSED POLICY – DURATION
• To ensure current safe parking permit
holders do no need to request a new
permit, staff recommend Council direct
staff to amend the ordinance for
second reading to state that:
• The terms of duration shall apply to
safe parking permit holders with
valid safe parking permits as of the
date of ordinance adoption.
15 Application
Application
submitted and
reviewed by staff.
Once the permit
could be issued,
determine need for
neighborhood
check-in.
Neighborhood Check In
Notice mailed re
neighborhood
meeting re pending
permit. After the
meeting, updates
may be made to the
application and/or
permit.
Notice of Tentative Decision
Notice mailed
stating permit is
tentatively issued.
Notifies recipients
of 14-day
opportunity to file
an appeal.
Permit Issued
If no appeal is filed,
the permit is issued.
If an appeal is filed,
the item will be on a
City Council agenda.
• Explicitly state that the City may host a meeting
• The sequence of activities would be as illustrated
PROPOSED POLICY – PROPOSED NEIGHBORHOOD CHECK IN
16 • The PTC only recommended 1 preference at this time: Students and families with children enrolled in the Palo Alto Unified School District • HRC members’ comments during the study session reflected a similar sentiment; preferences are not needed at this time for congregation-based programs Preferences as Originally Proposed and Discussed by the PTC and HRC
1. Households with children enrolled in the Palo Alto Unified School District
2. Individuals who resided in Palo Alto within the last five years prior to seeking enrollment in a safe parking program or who currently work in Palo Alto
3. Households with at least one person over the age of 65
4. Households with a person who is disabled as defined in the Americans with Disabilities Act
PROPOSED POLICY – PREFERENCES
17 • The HRC and PTC were undecided if the ordinance should include a limitation on the number of congregations that can obtain safe parking permits within a given distance of another permit holder (permit density)
• To aid in the City Council deliberation, the PTC requested staff to prepare maps showing a 600-foot and a 1200-foot radius (shown on the following slides) • Note these maps were created using search engines to identify congregations, and may over-estimate congregations (if they have since closed or moved) or not accurately name each congregation
• Given the proposed capacity increases, staff recommend requiring a 600-foot radius between safe parking permit locations
• If City Council supports permit density cap, this will be added into the ordinance PROPOSED POLICY – SAFE PARKING SITE DENSITIES
SAFE PARKING AT GENG ROAD
Exploring Expansion
12/04/2023 www.cityofpaloalto.org
27 • The City Council may be interested in exploring options to expand the 24-hour safe parking program located at 2000 Geng Road
• There is additional land adjacent to the site currently used for two purposes: (1) construction staging and (2) a lease between a business and the City of Palo Alto • City Council may consider directing staff to evaluate options at this or other publicly owned sites in Palo Alto in order to assess the feasibility of expanding safe parking • Such inquiry could return to the City Council for consideration and future action. This inquiry could include understanding the current and potential future land uses, needed improvements, the underlying zoning of the parcels, and other aspects required if safe parking were to be expanded.
SAFE PARKING AT GENG ROAD
RECOMMENDATION
12/04/2023 www.cityofpaloalto.org
29 • Adopt the ordinance w/ additional
amendments & PTC recommendations
• Allow Up to 8 Vehicles and direct staff to
include an appeal opportunity when
increasing the number of vehicles
• Preference for PAUSD students and
families.
• Minor Operational Changes
• Permit Duration – Align with other
conditional use permits
• Apply proposed duration to currently
active permits
SUMMARY & RECOMMENDATION
• Consider
• Density – Adopt (or not adopt) a
600 ft radius that limits the
number of safe parking permits
within 600 feet of each other.
• Safe Parking at Public Lots – Direct
staff to explore expanding safe
parking at Geng Road and/or other
publicly owned sites
Rachael Tanner
Management Specialist
[email protected]