The City of Sacramento is preparing to open a new safe camping site in the River District as part of its broader homeless response strategy.

City leaders say the Sequoia Pacific Safe Camping Site will give people experiencing homelessness a new option for a place to stay, along with on-site services and resources aimed at helping people get off the streets.

The site will include roughly 100 tents. It is also not Sacramento’s first attempt at a safe camping site, but Mayor Kevin McCarty said the city built off lessons learned from previous efforts.

“We think having some regulation, having some services, having some structure will serve the residents better, be more safe and secure for the neighbors, and this is it, right here.”

However, the project did not come without some community pushback. Last September, some nearby business owners, property owners and homeowners brought letters of opposition to a city council meeting.

According to the city, the capital cost of the project is about $2.5 million, with an annual operating cost of $1.2 million.

City leaders said this type of transitional housing is an important part of Sacramento’s strategy to address homelessness.

“You may not be wanting to go into a congregate shelter, you may not be ready for a permanent home, for example, depending on what you have going on in your life, but this may be the right step for you,” said Sacramento District 5 Councilmember Caity Maple.

In addition to the tents, the site will also have restrooms, security, phone chargers, dog kennels and case management.

The opening also comes as the city reviews a new audit examining spending and outcomes across Sacramento’s homeless shelter programs.

Sacramento District 4 Councilmember Phil Pluckebaum, who represents the River District, said he will be watching for visible improvements as the site gets up and running.

“I think the best success metric, in addition to all the numbers of people that we’re going to help get into housing, is when you’re driving around the River District downtown, is there a visible improvement? And the more of these sites that we stand up, I think the more of those beneficial visible improvements that people will see.”

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