Background and Need for Shelter Accommodation
In January 2019, the updated Plan to Address Homelessness was approved by the County. Required by the recent No Place Like Home grant funding opportunities, this updated plan includes four key goals identified below to strengthen our community’s response to homelessness.
- Strengthening the homeless crisis response system with an emphasis on developing prevention services.
- Increasing affordable housing options for the most vulnerable.
- Stabilizing and maintaining physical and behavioral health for those with the highest needs.
- Examining systems-level coordination and identifying opportunities for improved partnerships.
These strategies build upon a series of successful collaborative pilot projects completed within the county, including Bridge to Housing in West Sacramento in 2014, and the New Pathways project in Davis which was launched in 2016 and continues through today. In addition, the County has successfully grown state and federal funding used to support services for the homeless from $6.1 million in fiscal year 2015-16, to $15.5 million in fiscal year 2017-18. Even with these successes, the lack of sufficient affordable housing opportunities has limited the County’s ability to successfully transition the majority of individuals in need permanently out of homelessness.
As the City of Woodland, County and Yolo County Housing (YCH) creatively explored a long term solution consistent with the aforementioned Plan to Address Homelessness, the concept of a collaboratively developed Tiny Home Village arose. The three entities agreed to create a locally funded, conceptual outline of a Tiny Home project. The purpose of this staff report is to review this concept and seek Board feedback and consideration before proceeding further.
Successful Shelter Efforts
The County, YCH, cities of Woodland, West Sacramento, and Davis, as well as several non-profits have worked to complete other projects that aim to provide housing, education and services to the homeless. Projects on this programming platform include Bridge to Housing in West Sacramento, New Pathways and the Sutter Getting to Zero in Davis, YCH/County IGT House, Mercy Housing/West Sacramento Winter Shelter, Davis Interfaith Rotating Winter Shelter, and the Cold Weather Shelter in Woodland.
In looking at the time constraints, funding, land location and the need to explore non-traditional housing opportunities to meet existing community needs, a Tiny Home Village model met these requirements while providing a next generation opportunity for the existing programming platform. To date, the programming platform has been implemented through a master leased motel, small shared housing, and a temporary shelter. The proposed Tiny Home Village model also allows the partners to assess and understand this type of housing, including how it operates in real time, longevity of product, constraints on use by this population, and costs of operation. This will allow the City of Woodland, County and YCH to better support the efforts of other non-profit partners in their existing and future endeavors in this area within the cities and County.
Tiny Homes
Tiny homes are defined as homes typically below 400 square feet in size. They can be on a permanent or temporary foundation. Tiny homes can be as narrow as 8 feet, or as wide as approximately 10 feet, when the home’s walls extend to the edge of the wheel well on the structural framework. The wider homes are commonly known as “park models.” Tiny homes can be one story or have a loft area and can be configured as studios, one or two bedroom units, depending on size and space requirements.
Tiny homes have grown in interest in the country for a number of people, including those looking to downsize, seniors looking for affordability, and millennials looking to enter the housing market. They have progressed from solo and custom builds to factory built products. Tiny homes on a foundation can be built to local code and those on wheels are built to Housing and Urban Development (HUD) manufactured housing standards and are regulated by the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD).
Tiny homes used as supportive housing are also starting to be used throughout the country to address the issues associated with a growing population of individuals and families living homeless. Within this movement there are also several options, such as a basic shelter with minimal comforts, to tiny home villages like those in Eugene, Oregon and Austin, Texas.
Tiny homes can serve as an integral component of a strong affordable housing continuum, which includes emergency shelter, short-term or transitional housing, rapid rehousing and permanent supportive housing.
Conceptual Project
The proposed tiny home project would be located on a County owned parcel at 5th and Oak Avenue. The proposed project is designed to help single adults and families by following the “Housing First” principle of sheltering vulnerable populations before providing them with supportive services. This practice allows vulnerable people to leave the streets and find stability before beginning case management and attending regular appointments. Additionally, this project is not meant to be a permanent home, but rather an interim home that can provide adults and families with stability, shelter and life-skills, as they prepare to re-join society and move toward a more permanent housing situation.
Some of the individuals targeted for the tiny home units are those living homeless with the highest vulnerability, and who meet criteria for Full Service Partnership (FSP) mental health services through Yolo County Health & Human Services Agency. FSP clients meet the criteria set by the state Department of Health Care Services, which in Yolo County is based on the Level of Care Utilization System tool. This allows for the supportive services to be an integral part of the project, and aligns with the individuals then transitioning to No Place Like Home units for permanent housing.
Proposed homes would be manufactured homes that meet State of California Housing and Community Development standards, and carry the U.S. HUD manufactured housing label. These types of homes are licensed through the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to operate on roads for set up at their location. As such, the tiny homes at this location will not be on a permanent foundation, but rather set on wheels with the option to cover the wheels.
Working with YCH, HMR Architects have created a proposed site that, depending on final unit size considerations, can accommodate up to 22 homes, with a small laundry and community space tentatively located at the south-eastern side of the property. The site would include some parking on site and there would be an entry and exit driveway to the fenced community. The site would include landscaping, especially at the fenced area to enhance the residential feel and to provide separation of uses from the street. Drive areas would be roadbed aggregate and designed to meet emergency vehicle needs and weight. Homes would have connections to power and sewer.
California Environmental Quality Act
The proposed tiny homes project is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15332 – In-Fill Development Projects. CEQA Guidelines Section 15332 exempts from review projects that are consistent with the local General Plan and zoning regulations; are on a project site less than 5 acres within city limits; are on a site that has no value as habitat for endangered, rare or threatened species; will not have significant adverse effects relating to traffic, noise, air quality or water quality; and are served by public utilities and services.
This project meets all the requirements above as it is an approximately 0.65 acre vacant lot substantially surrounded by urban development to the north (Woodland Police Station), south (residential neighborhood) and west (residential development). It is located in the Downtown Specific Plan Area, which specifies residential development for this area. This site was previously developed, is currently vacant, and does not constitute habitat for special status species. The proposed project of up to 22 one and two bedroom units will not cause significant adverse effects on traffic, noise, or air quality because not all occupants are expected to have automobiles, and the units are all of low occupancy. All runoff will be captured onsite and all utilities and public services are readily available to the site. Consequently, no special circumstances exist that would indicate that the proposed project may have a significant adverse effect on the environment. A Notice of Exemption (NOE) will be filed.
Public Outreach
A letter (Attachment B), written in both English and Spanish, was mailed out to approximately 380 homes in the vicinity of the proposed tiny homes project, with 50 of the letters hand delivered. The purpose of the letter was to inform the neighborhood to the possibility of this project, as well as provide an overview.
Pending conceptual approval of this project, staff will work to engage the neighborhood on the project through outreach meetings, including, an informational session, a site visit and an opportunity for local community members to ask questions and provide input on the project. Additionally, there will be a website page dedicated to addressing any questions the public may have.
Timeline
The tiny homes project has a flexible timeline to ensure enough time for public outreach, but also keeps in mind the desire to have a housing option available when the County Jail undergoes remodeling in the fall of 2019 and several people will be without shelter. To allow for this, staff is presenting the conceptual plan to the Board today (5/21), with plans to bring the final plan and agreements back in June. Staff will file the CEQA NOE following today’s meeting, beginning the permit process, but also allowing sufficient time for the Board to change course before final plans are presented at one of the June meetings. Once the 35-day NOE hold period is completed, and pending approval from the County Board, Woodland City Council and Yolo County Housing Commission, YCH will submit tiny home manufacturing Requests for Proposals (RFPs) and bid for site construction. This would begin the construction preparation period, with installation of the first homes anticipated in early winter of 2019.
Financing
Proposed financing for the tiny homes and project infrastructure would come from a variety of sources, potentially including Cal Works, Intergovernmental Transfer (IGT) funding, county affordable housing in lieu funds, and City of Woodland and Yolo County discretionary funds.
In addition, it is recommended that the County and City of Woodland set aside 50% of the necessary operational costs for the first three years, as part of the initial financing plan, while determining a more sustainable method of funding these ongoing costs. |