85AA - CONSIDER OPTIONS FOR HOMELESS SHELTER

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Emergency Shelter Options October 21, 2014 Page 2 community members organized an informational forum held on August 19, 2014 at Kennedy Elementary school to express their concerns about potential impacts of an emergency shelter at the proposed location. On September 30, 2014 staff provided a presentation to the Development and Transportation Council Committee which discussed the provisions of the City's emergency shelter ordinance, confirmed that the property selected by the County is within the permitted zone, and explained limitations on the City's ability to stop the establishment of the shelter at this location due to the County's preemption authority under state law. In order to provide an avenue to address the neighborhood's concerns, Counclimember Sarmiento requested information on potential actions that the City could take in regards to the County's proposed emergency shelter. Staff has identified the following two actions: • Adopt a resolution requesting inter - agency cooperation and community involvement— The City Council could request that a resolution be prepared that would establish a process for inter - agency cooperation between the City and the County, and that would establish a role for the involvement of the community in the further development of the emergency shelter. This action would be in alignment with the City's Strategic Plan. Adopt a 45 -day emergency moratorium — This option would establish a 45 -day period of time during which the provisions of the City's previously adopted emergency shelter and transitional housing ordinance would be set aside in order for further study to be conducted, thereby prohibiting the establishment of new emergency shelters. This would, however, not apply to the County due to the preemption authority previously described. This option would require that the City Council make findings that there was an imminent threat to the public health, safety and welfare resulting from the provisions of the previously- adopted ordinance. Given that there is little evidence to suggest that emergency shelters result in increased crime or other public safety impacts as evidenced by crime reporting data for the two existing shelters in Santa Ana (the Santa Ana Armory and the Salvation Army shelter), and in light of the fact that the Council made findings in September of 2013 that the adoption of the ordinance would not be injurious to the public health, safety and welfare, it would be difficult to make findings to the contrary at this time. Adoption of the emergency moratorium would require a super - majority vote of the City Council. This action would not be in alignment with the City's Strategic Plan. Should the City Council move forward with this option, the City would cease to be in compliance with state law regarding both the Housing Element and the requirements of SB 2. STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT The Strategic Plan contains two strategies relating to addressing the needs of the City's homeless population: Goal 1: Community Safety 85AA -2