The disagreement around tiny homes for the unhoused, at the end of the Oct. 8 City Council meeting, centered on whether to limit the number that will be allowed on a church parking lot.
There were two motions on the table when one of the two passed 4-3 — supporting a pilot program for tiny homes on a church parking lot that can house women. The motion directs City staff to move forward with the plan that was presented earlier by the North State Shelter Team (NSST). Most importantly, compared to the other motion, this motion doesn’t limit the number of houses that will be provided.
Before the motion passed, there were tense moments with a 3–3 split on the Council. Three conservative councilmembers — Tom van Overbeek, Mike O’Brien and Dale Bennett — voted against the motion, and the three progressive councilmembers — Addison Winslow, Bryce Goldstein, and Katie Hawley — voted in favor.
Mayor Kasey Reynolds cast the deciding vote.
“I’m going to go yes,” she said, breaking from what are often partisan lines on the panel.
Some cheers erupted from the audience when the motion passed.
Reynolds, as chair of the homelessness ad hoc committee, initiated the discussion at a September meeting; NSST had advocated building tiny homes for the unhoused for years.
Community Development Director Brendan Vieg said a pilot project could be a good approach and suggested NSST apply for an administrative use permit that could provide a viable path forward.
Vieg said he wanted to make sure the Council supports the NSST plan when “they [NSST] want to deviate from some of the standards associated with a temporary emergency shelter.”
Tom van Overbeek was the only councilmember who voiced explicit opposition.
“So we have empty beds at the Genesis shelter every night,” van Overbeek said. “So why are we talking about adding little houses in church parking lots when we’re not using the shelters we already have? It doesn’t make sense to me.
“Genesis shelter has been a huge success because they have a very thoughtful management program. And when that doesn’t exist, it’s chaos,” van Overbeek continued.
People who spoke during the public comment session responded to van Overbeek’s questions.
“We do have a good management system, Mr. van Overbeek,” said Lori Mason, an NSST member. “We’re not just leaving these women there alone. There will be interfacing with the women and helping the women on a daily basis.
“Why don’t women go to the Genesis shelter or go to Torres shelter? They don’t like to be around that many people. They are vulnerable. They’ve been victims of crime,” Mason continued. “We’ll get them more successfully prepared to be in permanent housing, most of which they already qualified for, but are too disorganized and frankly, mentally ill to do it on their own.”
Charles Withuhn, NSST president, said there are three churches willing to contribute their parking lots to this program.
“I just talked to the minister yesterday, and he said, just as long as the City won’t fight us, ‘We’d be happy to just go ahead with the plan,’” Withuhn said. “He’s not only a preacher. He’s a general contractor, and he’s kind of excited about being able to use this abandoned area of the parking lot for tiny homes with the fence around. It will have a surveillance camera, have people there all the time, case managers helping the women out.”
Winslow supported the project and suggested that the City subsidize the North State Shelter Team’s $2,600 application fee for the administrative use permit.
“I think it’s a great opportunity to invite people within the community to participate in what otherwise is the City’s responsibility, at least under the Warren v. Chico settlement agreement right now,” Winslow said.
Reynolds then made a motion to support the possibility of the NSST application, and to support staff in doing everything it can — within reason — to make it go through. And if there is an issue, to bring it back.
O’Brien made an amendment to set a limit on the number of tiny homes allowed on a parking lot, saying that the number should not exceed two.
Reynolds accepted the friendly amendment.
Goldstein, however, made a substitute motion to keep Reynolds’s motion intact without adding a number limit, giving discretion to the NSST and City staff.
Her motion was approved with the four yes votes, including Reynolds’s. A group of homeless advocates, including Withuhn and Mason, stepped out of the City Council Chamber with happiness, some of them hugging each other to celebrate the small progress they had made.
“We still have hurdles to cross,” someone in the crowd said.
The North State Shelter Team will need to apply for an administrative use permit and hold community hearings to move the program forward.
“We are happy that we got the City to pass the direction to staff to work with us to get the tiny home project going,” Withuhn said today. “We are very encouraged.”
Withuhn had already been to the municipal building and picked up the application form. He said the plan is to have four tiny homes and require the participants to each pay $167 dollars per month.
“This is not free,” Withuhn explained. “This involves supplying water and services to the tiny homes. We are looking for older women who have some income or Social Security, who are getting $900-$1000 a month.”
Yucheng Tang is a California Local News Fellow reporting for ChicoSol.
Thank you to Yucheng and ChicoSol for a fine and balanced review of the City Council meeting. We are in a shelter crisis that has contributed to the deaths of more people outside, more tents downtown, more trash in our parks, than any other disaster to hit Chico… in my life. NSST is offering the city a plan to address our crisis that has been proven safe and successful for years in many other towns.