Politics & Government

Albany Bulb Homeless Shelter Opens Friday

The City of Albany's temporary homeless shelter for the people soon to be evicted from the illegal encampments on the Albany Bulb will open Friday at 5:30 p.m., the city announced. No word on when enforcement of the no-camping law begins.

The City of Albany's temporary homeless shelter at the Albany Bulb is scheduled to open on Friday, Nov. 22, the city announced today, Thursday.

The shelter, scheduled to be open for six months, is one of the key elements of city's "Transition Plan" to make the Bulb part of McLaughlin Eastshore State Park.

The plan also includes removing the longstanding illegal encampments on the Bulb and enforcing the city's no-camping ordinance on the property. An estimated 50-60 people have been living in the Bulb in makeshift shelters and tents.

"The temporary facility is intended to provide shelter for those transitioning off of the Albany Bulb," the city says in the notice posted on its website today.

The city is also working with local agencies to help the Bulb residents find alternative housing and is offering limited rent subsidies – from a $35,000 fund approved by the City Council – to pay part of the rent for Bulb residents who have income with which to pay part of the rent themselves.

The shelter consists of two prefab buildings – each roughly 36 feet long by 22 feet wide – located next the Golden Gate Fields Racetrack parking lot on Buchanan Street extension about the length of a football field from the entrance to the Bulb.

The city said the shelter – to be operated by Operation Dignity – will have 15 bunk beds of two beds each. City workers at the site told Patch that the building nearer the Bulb will house men, with women in the other structure. Dinners and breakfasts will be provided.

A mobile shower unit is also parked at the site. The facility also includes "a storage area for personal belongings and dog kennels," the city's announcement said.

A Patch visit about 5 p.m. today found two people working inside the women's building, which contained tables and chairs on one side of a divider and beds on the other side. The men's building was closed and dark inside.

Timing of no-camping law enforcement  

The city has not indicated when it will begin issuing the citations against camping.

The City Council earlier this summer voted to request the Police Department to begin enforcing the ordinance as of last month, October.

City Clerk Nicole Almaguer, who serves as the city's public information officer, told Patch this week that she does not have information on when the police may issue citations.

Police Chief Mike McQuiston said in a Nov. 15 court declaration that police do not plan to issue citations or make arrests for violations of the no-camping law if no other shelter is available.

"lt is my intent to enforce in phases as persons living there are transitioned to other shelter or housing options," he said. "As such, if Bulb campers or other homeless persons flll the beds available in the nearby shelter or other nearby shelter or housing options, police would not enforce the no camping or curfew laws. Simply put, the no camping and curfew laws would not be enforced and no citations would be issued, nor would arrests take place for these violations under such circumstances. For this reason, our enforcement will likely be phased, in a quadrant approach, opening up portions of the park currently inaccessible to the park's users due to the activity of campers, as they are assisted with finding alternative shelter or housing." 

McQuiston's declaration was part of the city's response to a Nov. 13 lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court by 10 Bulb residents and Albany Housing Advocates seeking to block the impending eviction. 

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Timing of clean-up and removal of encampment remains

A separate question is when the city plans to begin removing any encampment remains that Bulb dwellers leave behind.

When Patch asked Almaguer about the enforcement timing, she referenced the Transition Plan documents presented by city staff to the City Council at its Oct. 21 meeting, when it approved the plan. The "Abatement Procedures" presented to the council said two types of advance notice would be given, depending on the number of people in the encampment:

"1.  The following notice procedures shall apply to encampments inhabited by ten (10) or more individuals which have been in place for more than thirty (30) days: Approximately fourteen (14) days prior to undertaking a clean‐up, the City shall make reasonable efforts to provide informal notice to the inhabitants of an encampment through face‐to‐face communications and distribution of informational flyers as deemed appropriate. At least seven (7) days prior to undertaking a clean‐up, the City shall seek to provide a written notice of the intended clean‐up by posting and/or distributing a written notice in substantially the form attached as Exhibit B.  The posting and/or service of the notice shall be performed in a manner which is reasonably calculated to provide effective notice to any residents of adjacent temporary shelters or campsites.  The notice shall describe the area subject to clean‐up.

"2.  The following notice procedures shall apply to encampments which are either inhabited by fewer than ten (10) individuals or have been in place for fewer than thirty (30) days: At least seventy‐two (72) hours prior to undertaking a clean‐up, the City shall seek to provide a written notice of the intended clean‐up by posting and/or distributing a written notice in substantially the form attached as Exhibit B.  The posting and/or service of the notice shall be performed in a manner which is reasonably calculated to provide effective notice to any residents of adjacent temporary shelters or campsites.  The notice shall describe the area subject to clean‐up."

The city's court response to the lawsuit, filed Nov. 15, does not appear to draw a distinction according to the size of the encampment. It says:

Find out what's happening in Albanywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"Approximately fourteen days prior to undertaking a clean-up, the City makes reasonable efforts to provide informal notice to inhabitants of encampments ... through face-to face communications and distribution of informational flyers. Then, at least seven days prior to undertaking a clean-up, the City will seek to provide written notice of the intended clean-up by posting or distributing written notice reasonably calculated to provide effective notice to any inhabitants of adjacent temporary shelters or campsites."

For more information on the city's plan for the Albany Bulb and protests by opponents of the eviction, see our list of recent Patch articles and reader posts about the issue:

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