Housing and Homelessness Committee Memorandum
TO: HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS DATE: APRIL 25, 2022
COMMITTEE MEMBERS
FROM: OFFICE OF HOMELESS SOLUTIONS WARD: ALL
SUBJECT: PALLET SHELTERS UPDATE AND EMERGENCY HOUSING ALTERNATIVES ISSUE:
Receive an update on the Pallet Shelters and emergency housing alternatives.
RECOMMENDATION:
That the Housing and Homelessness Committee:
Receive an update on the Pallet Shelters and emergency housing alternatives; and Direct staff on which emergency housing alternative options to pursue and return to the Housing and Homelessness Committee with final budgets for those options.
BACKGROUND:
To address the shelter bed shortage in the City of Riverside, City Council directed the Office of Homeless Solutions staff to expedite alternative temporary housing solutions at the Hulen Campus.
On December 17, 2019, the Office of Homeless Solutions staff presented to City Council the following temporary emergency housing alternatives:
PRODUCT
# SERVED
START-UP COSTS
OPERATIONS
TOTAL COST
Tuff Shed Cabins (20)
20 $369,280
$1.3 million
$1,369,280
Pallet Shelters (20)
20 $495,680
$1.3 million
$1,495,680
Sprung Structure (1)
125
$677,459
$1.3 million
$1,677,459
On January 21, 2020, City Council took the following actions to address the shelter crisis:
Determined that the minimum 70 square feet recommended floor area for single occupancy and minimum 120 square feet recommended floor area for double occupancy for emergency sleeping cabins significantly delays the City’s ability to move people out of harsh climates and safely into shelter with an accelerated timeline and is counterproductive to the City Council’s intent in declaring crisis; Directed staff to prepare an ordinance to amend Section16.34.040 of the Riverside Municipal Code to decrease the minimum number of square feet of interior space for single occupancy emergency sleeping cabins to 64 square feet for single and double occupancy; Directed staff to prepare an ordinance to amend Section 16.34.040 of the Riverside Municipal Code to decrease the minimum number of square feet of interior space for single and double occupancy sleeping cabins to 64 square feet; Directed staff to prepare a resolution directing the Planning Division and Code Enforcement Department not to pursue any violation complaints related to the placement or occupancy of emergency housing units on Designated Public Facilities property until the Riverside Municipal Code, Section 16.34.040 is amended; Directed staff to submit a copy of an updated ordinance to the California Buildings Standards Commission (BSC); and Approved an accelerated timeline to deploy emergency sleeping cabins to be operational by January 31, 2020, if possible, or shortly thereafter.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, General Services quickly stood up 30 pallet shelters at 1901 Massachusetts Avenue. The total project development cost was $781,110, and the annual operations were $1,220,060. In a twelve-month period, 134 individuals were served at the Pallet Shelters, also known as the Cabin Village. The cost to serve each client through the program was $9,105.
DISCUSSION:
On February 5, 2022, one of the pallet shelters caught fire. The Fire Department was able to quickly respond to the pallet shelter site and extinguish the fire. The fire resulted in the destruction of four pallet shelters.
The Building Official met with the Fire Department, General Services and Arclogica (architect), and the following recommendations were made to address life safety requirements:
Architect to re-design the site and send a draft plan with the following items:
Egress gates to be added to the north and southside of the fence enclosing the pallet shelters.
Gates to have panic hardware and exit signs.
‘No parking’ striping to be added to the site at egress gates.
All asphalt-mounted shelters are to be re-spaced to have 10’ clearance in all directions.
All mounted (ADA compliant shelters) are to have fire sprinklers added.
Fire alarms need to be hard-wired.
The reconfiguration of the pallet shelters will reduce the number of pallet shelters from 30 to 22, which will still include 4 ADA units. One pallet shelter has two shelter beds. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the shelters were only housing one person unless they were a couple.
If the City decides to replace/reconfigure the pallet shelters at 1901 Massachusetts Avenue, the activity cost is $452,394 which includes addressing the life safety requirements previously mentioned.
Since the City still has a shortage of emergency shelter beds and needs additional shelter beds to enforce the City’s anti-camping ordinance, staff has reviewed the following temporary emergency housing alternatives and long-term shelter alternatives that could replace the existing Pallet Shelter Program:
OPTION
ACTIVITY
ESTIMATED COST
DESCRIPTION
1 90 new pallet shelter units (Non-congregate shelter)
$2,326,100
This option would replace the existing Pallet Shelter Program offsite and increase the bed capacity by 68 pallet shelters. This project would provide a minimum of 90 shelter beds and 180 shelter beds at full capacity. 2 Rehabilitation of an existing building for a permanent shelter (Non-congregate shelter) $4,295,137
This option would replace the existing Pallet Shelter Program and require the acquisition of an existing building to be rehabilitated to provide 90 permanent shelter beds. 3 New Construction of an Emergency Shelter facility (Congregate shelter) $7,570,600
This option would replace the existing Pallet Shelter Program and require the acquisition of vacant land and the construction of a new building for 90 bed emergency shelter. 4 Sprung Structure (Congregate shelter)
TBD
At the time of submitting this report, staff was researching the cost of this option. Staff will provide a verbal update during the committee meeting.
Options 1 through 4 will require property acquisition. Staff is currently reviewing the City’s list of properties available for surplus and privately owned properties on the market for sale and the operation costs for each of these options.
The State of California has earmarked $8.4 million of Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention Program (HHAP) 3 grant funding for the City. These funds will be provided to the City after it has submitted a local homeless action plan and application to the State by June 30, 2022, and the State has reviewed and approved the action plan and application. The activities within the staff report are eligible expenses under the HHAP 3 grant.
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT:
This item contributes to Strategic Priority 2 – Community Well-Being and Goal No. 2.2, collaborate with partner agencies to reduce the incidence and duration of homelessness.
The item aligns with each of the five Cross-Cutting Threads as follows:
Community Trust – The City is transparent and makes decisions based on sound policy and data. The City will continue to use data when identifying gaps in homeless programs and services.
Equity – Riverside is supportive of the City’s racial, ethnic, religious, sexual orientation, identity, geographic, and other attributes of diversity and is committed to advancing the fairness of treatment, recognition of rights, and equitable distribution of services to ensure every member of the community has equal access to share the benefits of community progress.
Fiscal Responsibility – Riverside is a prudent steward of public funds and ensures responsible management of the City’s financial resources while providing quality public services to all.
Innovation – Riverside is inventive and timely in meeting the community’s changing needs and prepares for the future through collaborative partnerships. Data will be used to identify and create innovative ways to address the root cause of homelessness.
Sustainability & Resiliency – Riverside is committed to meeting the needs of the present without compromising the needs of the future and ensuring the City’s capacity to persevere, adapt and grow during good and difficult times alike.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact associated with the report.
Prepared by: Michelle Davis, Housing Authority Manager
Certified as to
Availability of funds: Edward Enriquez, Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer Approved by: Lea Deesing, Assistant City Manager
Approved as to form: Phaedra A. Norton, City Attorney
Attachment: Presentation
Pallet Shelters Update and Emergency Housing Alternatives ● Page 3