1-20-26
Consent Calendar Comment January 20, 2026, Item b.
I want to be clear that I understand the City's stated reasons for temporarily prohibiting camping around San Rafael City Hall. The staff report identifies sanitation issues, pests and rodents, blocked access for people with mobility needs, public apprehension, and increased calls for police service as conditions that make continued camping incompatible with the City's ability to operate safely and effectively.
What concerns me is not that the City is acting here but that the City has clearly articulated standards for when impacts become unacceptable, and those same standards have not been explicitly built into plans affecting residential neighborhoods.
In the neighborhood surrounding 350 Merrydale Road, residents raised these same categories of concern during discussions about the proposed interim shelter—-sanitation, pests, accessibility, safety, and impacts on daily life. At that time, those concerns were described as manageable, but without clearly defined thresholds or enforceable standards.
This agenda item shows that the City already knows how to define limits. It knows when trash, pests, blocked access, and disruption require decisive action. It knows how to temporarily prohibit camping, require relocation, and do so without framing the action as criminalizing homelessness.
What we are asking is simple and reasonable: that the same or similar standards applied at City Hall be explicitly incorporated into the Merrydale project plan. That includes clear performance standards, defined thresholds for action, and enforceable responses if those thresholds are exceeded.
This is not about opposing the project. It is about ensuring that neighborhoods are protected by the same criteria the City uses to protect itself.
Merrydale residents are not asking for special treatment. We are asking for equal treatment-and for those standards to be written into the plan from the outset.
Sincerely
Wayne Rayburn