San Jose’s first sanctioned homeless encampment is opening next month following site construction delays.
The vacant lot at 1157 E. Taylor St. is scheduled to open in August and will allow up to 56 people to sleep in tents without fear of being swept. Mayor Matt Mahan said last year the safe sleeping site would open in March, but Public Works Director Matt Loesch later said it would open in June. Several factors have led to the delay, including installing a water line for the fire hydrant and a new PG&E contractor certification requirement, Loesch said.
“We have completed all the site preparations and grading, water line installation, paving, fencing, site storage and tent pad installation,” Loesch told San José Spotlight.
The site will cost $2 million a year to operate and is meant to serve as a navigation center, where homeless people can get connected to resources and placed into temporary housing in three to five weeks. Participants will receive three daily meals and have access to showers, laundry facilities and 24/7 security. Nonprofit HomeFirst will provide case management.
Homeless people getting swept from their camps — including the Columbus Park sweep planned for Aug. 18 — will be funneled into the navigation center and referred to other temporary housing, housing department spokesperson Sarah Fields said.
The city plans to open five motel sites as temporary housing for homeless residents later this year. Bristol Hotel, which straddles San Jose’s border with Campbell, is scheduled to open in August and will provide shelter for women and children. The motels can serve up to 330 people total. Two sites will also provide up to 15 spaces for people living in their RVs, Fields said.
“As these sites come online there will be movement for these individuals (out of the safe sleeping site) as it aligns with need and availability,” Fields told San José Spotlight.
Homeless advocates say there are at least 100 people living in RVs at Columbus Park. The safe sleeping site will only be able to accommodate a portion of the residents when the city sweeps the park next month.
Fields did not provide specifics on when the other motels are scheduled to open, or if certain motels will be geared for Columbus Park residents.
Todd Langton, founder of Agape Silicon Valley, said the city is putting out a false narrative that people getting swept will have places to go.
“It’s implied (that the city’s) got plenty of spaces for them to go. And there’s not,” Langton told San José Spotlight. “There’s going to be a two, three-month gap if they do get into the hotel.”
Since last year, the city has opened four temporary housing sites with a combined 524 beds or spaces. Despite these investments, San Jose’s homeless population has increased by 237 people since 2023.
San Jose has 6,503 homeless residents, according to a point-in-time count conducted in January. Of that, approximately 3,959 people are unsheltered. The city’s homeless population peaked in 2022 at 6,650 people, when it had the fourth highest homeless population per capita in the U.S. At that time, nearly 5,000 people were unsheltered.
“I applaud the city’s effort to house people,” Steve Pinkston, a board member with Recovery Cafe San Jose, told San José Spotlight. “(But) if you don’t have a remedy for people to be housed, you may do a sweep, you may do a clearing out, but people will return.”
Contact Joyce Chu at [email protected] or @joyce_speaks on X.
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