Laserfiche WebLink
of the larger South Orange County cities such as Irvine, Newport Beach, Laguna Niguel, <br />Lake Forest, and San Clemente, reveals a multitude of potential sites for shelter; and <br />WHEREAS, on or about October 11, 2022, and despite the availability of potential <br />shelter sites outside of Santa Ana, the County of Orange informed the United States <br />District Court, Central District of California ("Court"), that the County of Orange intended <br />to open an emergency cold weather shelter at a facility operated by The Salvation Army <br />at 818 East Third Street in Santa Ana ; and <br />WHEREAS, on October 14, 2022, the Court conducted a status conference <br />regarding the County of Orange's intention to open the cold weather shelter. Based on <br />the available shelter bed capacity in Santa Ana, as cited by Santa Ana at the hearing, the <br />Court declined the County's request to open the emergency cold weather shelter in Santa <br />Ana; and <br />WHEREAS, on October 21, 2022, the Court held further proceedings to discuss <br />the County's intent to operate the cold weather shelter in Santa Ana, determined that an <br />emergency exists that justifies the activation of the Santa Ana Armory as a cold weather <br />shelter in Santa Ana, and ordered that the Armory be activated for operation by the <br />County; and <br />WHEREAS, as cited in the Orange County Grand Jury report entitled How is <br />Orange County Addressing Homelessness?, there are no low -threshold emergency <br />shelters in South Orange County. Considering this, individuals in South Orange County <br />cities who are experiencing homelessness will need to travel great distances to seek <br />shelter at the cold weather shelter in Santa Ana; and <br />WHEREAS, as noted by the Court at the October 21 hearing, the need for, and <br />ability to place, a cold weather shelter is undeniable in South Orange County but also that <br />there needs to be an equitable, county -wide approach to these types of shelters, whereby <br />one of each might be established in each of the County's three Service Planning Areas; <br />and <br />WHEREAS, Santa Ana has always encouraged this approach and insisted upon <br />the same at the October 21 hearing, where it also again demonstrated that the greatest <br />need for a cold weather shelter in the Central SPA was not in Santa Ana but rather in <br />locations outside of the City; and <br />WHEREAS, despite Santa Ana's advocacy, the Court ordered the activation of the <br />Santa Ana Armory to be used as a cold weather shelter from December 1, 2022 to March <br />31, 2023, a site for which the County currently has no operator; and <br />WHEREAS, going forward, a better and more organized plan is imperative for the <br />operation of cold weather shelters whereby one is sited outside of the City of Santa Ana, <br />which has always hosted more shelter beds than any other city and regularly has enough <br />bed capacity to service individuals experiencing homelessness within its City limits, and <br />moreover the impacts of a cold weather shelter on the City cannot be mitigated. <br />Resolution 2022-086 <br />Page 2 of 4 <br />