Editorial: San Rafael takes step forward with sanctioned encampment

San Rafael’s city-sanctioned homeless encampment certainly looks a lot better than the rag-tag collection of nylon tents and tarps that have dominated other camps.

Tapping into state funds, the city has built a camp at the north end of the Mahon Creek Path, marking a new chapter in the city’s struggle with homeless campers and, hopefully, a step in their path into permanent housing.

In a survey conducted by the city, most of the Mahon Creek campers said they want to live in real housing. The city encampment, which provides sturdy tents, cots and platforms, showers and bathrooms, security, counselors and rules to which its 50 campers have to agree, is supposed to be a step in that direction.

Given that we are approaching the colder and wet months, the timing is right.

At the same time, the city is cracking down on unsanctioned camps, among them the large camp that has grown along Andersen Drive. Those campers were given 48 hours notice to comply with the city’s rules, requiring them to be more than 10 feet from private property and five feet from a road, safety measures for the public, campers and neighboring businesses and homes. City-hired outreach workers help those eligible move to Mahon Creek tents or local shelter beds.

Homeless people living in San Rafael are not new. But the pandemic brought encampments that took root on public property, such as the city parking lot on Caltrans land under Highway 101. Those campers were protected by a federal court ruling that determined that municipalities could not ban homeless camps on public land when there was no other housing available.

That ruling and cycles of costly lawsuits provided the legal foundation of homeless camps in San Rafael, Novato and Sausalito, leaving municipalities dealing with numerous complaints about crime, safety and sanitation.

San Rafael’s $2.2 million city-sanctioned camp, clearly intended to be temporary, lasting 12 to 18 months, is a strong step toward bringing order to, what seems to passersby, disorder.

The city is working with county social services to provide campers with help in addressing their health and welfare needs and steering them to housing that will get them off the streets.

Mayor Kate Colin, a strong advocate of the “Housing First” strategy adopted by the city and county, says the city’s temporary camp and removal of “unregulated” camps that are not abiding by city rules is intended to provide safety and security for campers and the public.

“Let me be clear, the status quo isn’t acceptable,” she said during a webinar held with county officials on the Mahon Creek initiative. She said it is “compassionate, restores order and is effective.”

Those should be objectives that even campers would appreciate.

It’s going to take patience, for campers waiting for housing and the public that has legitimate concerns about safety and security.

San Rafael is far from the only California city working and trying to find a solution to the societal puzzle of homelessness.

Unfortunately, San Rafael’s been working on it longer than many. There is a long list of local initiatives. Some have helped people off the streets. Those are worthwhile achievements.

But homelessness is a complex crisis with no one-size-fits-all solutions.

San Rafael’s new strategy is born out of frustration that previous efforts have led to legal battles and more encampments, large and small.

But it is a tangible sign that the city and county are working together to provide an effective transition to bring safety and security to campers who want help that should lead them to real housing.