The San Francisco City Council voted on Oct. 3 to approve a plan extending the lease on a safe parking site at Candlestick Point, south of downtown, for 35 vehicles and those living in them at a cost of nearly $13 million over two years, with residents receiving access to meals, wi-fi, and laundry services.
Legislative analysts, in a report, recommended the extension but suggested that the council explore less-expensive options next year.
“We have a responsibility to keep communities clean and safe, and this provides us an opportunity to do both,” San Francisco Supervisor Shamann Walton said on Sept. 29 during the Homelessness and Behavioral Health Select Committee meeting. “This is an expensive endeavor, but we cannot afford the alternative.”
The committee voted unanimously to approve the proposal.
At issue is the Bayview Vehicle Triage Center, established in January 2022 to provide a safe parking space with amenities for some homeless individuals living in their vehicles.
Officials say they hope that, in time, as many as 69 vehicles and their owners can use the space, once fire suppression methods and power are installed; so far, just diesel generators have been available for limited use.
Space at the triage center is assigned by invitation only, with the city’s Healthy Streets Operation Center and the San Francisco Homeless Outreach Team managing the process.
Statistics from the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing—the city agency overseeing the site—indicate that 96 individuals from 73 households stayed at the site in the fiscal year 2022–23, with an average stay of 218 days.
The department contracts services with two San Francisco-based nonprofits: the Bayview Hunters Point Foundation and Urban Alchemy. The groups operate the facility, coordinate referrals, and support groups and activities to facilitate exit strategies for those living there.
The Bayview Hunters Point Foundation focuses on homelessness, substance abuse, and mental health services. It provides two daily meals—prepared fresh and delivered to the site because the lack of power prevents people from cooking—and offers case management, engagement, and exit planning.
Urban Alchemy—founded to address homelessness and transform distressed communities—has received several multimillion-dollar city contracts for a variety of projects.
The analysts’ report noted several findings last year that brought into question the role of the Bayview Hunters Point Foundation, one of two contracted nonprofits in the city listed as a cause for “elevated concern” by the city controller. The report concluded that steps are being taken to address the issues raised—including high turnover, lack of compliance with grant agreements, and invoicing for costs not yet incurred.
Urban Alchemy receives the bulk of the funding, with nearly $8 million slated for January 2024 to January 2026. The group is responsible for site maintenance, laundry services, storage, and entry and exit processes.
A representative of the nonprofit spoke at the committee hearing about the need to keep the facility operating for the benefit of those living and working there.
“This program really, really works. They need this. We need this. Because we all bond together,” Otis Hughes said. “I could be homeless in a situation just like them, but fortunately, I’m not. They help me be a better human being.”
The agreement with the San Francisco-based organization, which was founded in 2018, includes $312,000 in annual rent and about $12.2 million in operating costs. Another $900,000 is anticipated for parking and law enforcement costs.
$400 per Car per Night
Calling the proposal “by far the most expensive homeless response intervention,” the analysts’ report described the cost per vehicle as approximately $140,000 per year, or $400 per night.The city paid $105 per night in 2021 for a similar site in a different location on San Jose Avenue, the analysts noted. However, the now-closed site didn’t have on-site case management, estimated to cost an additional $117 per night, according to the analysts.
Critics point out the disparity between paying nearly $12,000 per space per month as compared to market rent prices in San Francisco—with a median cost of less than $3,000 for a one-bedroom apartment, according to online real estate listing company Zillow.
While the report recommended that supervisors explore options to lower costs next year, analysts ultimately decided to recommend approval of the proposed resolution because it supported established city guidelines.
The triage center in question was developed from a 2019 ordinance passed by supervisors directing the homelessness department to establish what they called a Safe Overnight Parking Pilot Program.
Following through, the city identified the parking lot at Candlestick Point State Recreation Area. About $4.6 million in grant funds were spent to prepare the site, including installing perimeter fencing, solar lighting, potable water, portable toilets, and a guard shack, among other things.
“There’s a lot that goes into making it a safe, dignified location,” Emily Cohen, deputy director for the homelessness department, said at the committee meeting.
More than a dozen individuals spoke in support of extending the lease—both in person and over the phone—with several telling supervisors that the site has been life-changing for them.
“It makes me feel safe,” one man said. “For me, it works, and we need more of these.”
Several supporters talked about reducing the costs when the capacity is expanded to allow more vehicles, although one caller questioned the logic of such an assumption.
“It’s not working, folks. When has that ever happened in San Francisco?” Bay Area native Russel Marine said. “It costs more per site than my mortgage in San Francisco. The cost is going to go up.”
The spot that the city chose is detrimental to public safety, as it’s near a park where children play, he said.
Some have also shared concerns about the lack of an environmental review of the site.
The California Environmental Quality Act requires that all projects that could impact the environment undergo a rigorous review process, and none was conducted for the site before it was developed. No one commented about this during the committee meeting, however.
Things are no better now than before the triage center opened, with inhabited vehicles still parked, although no longer in the same locations, one Bayview resident said.
“All of the things we experienced before are still there,” she said. “They’re just spread across the Bayview.”
In 2022, there were 4,400 unsheltered homeless in the city, with 24 percent sleeping in vehicles, according to point-in-time count statistics. A count in July found 1,058 inhabited vehicles.
