San Jose officials have zeroed in on the city’s first location for a sanctioned encampment, where homeless people will be allowed to stay inside tents without fear of being swept.
The lot at 1157 E. Taylor St. could open early next year, with more safe sleeping sites opening by next June. The locations will house between 100 to 200 tents and be modeled after San Diego’s setup, with services, security and sanitation — similar to how San Jose’s tiny home sites are run. Mayor Matt Mahan’s goal is to move about 500 people living by the creeks into sanctioned tent sites.
“It is very important for us to have these safe sleeping locations where we already know there’s unmanaged encampments,” San Jose Councilmember Omar Torres, whose district includes the proposed Taylor Street site, told San José Spotlight. “So it’s not only for the safety of the folks living in these unmanaged encampments, but also the safety of our local community, especially our students.”
Near 1157 E. Taylor St. is an encampment in Watson Park along Coyote Creek. Empire Gardens Elementary School is also in the vicinity.
Torres and his team went out knocking on doors this week to let residents know about the potential site. They will also establish a community advisory committee so neighbors can voice any concerns. So far, Torres said people have been supportive of the site.
This location was one of eight potential sites the San Jose City Council approved for a feasibility study. After conducting environmental studies, examining the size of the site and identifying floodplain issues, the city deemed the lot on Taylor Street to be suitable for sanctioned tents. Other sites in consideration include parcels off Lelong Street, Willow Street, 3278 Almaden Road and the Tully/Monterey property.
After community deliberations, details such as how many tents will go up and which nonprofit provider will run the site will be sorted out. The city will create no camping zones within a two-block radius of the site when it opens.
“It’s always important to make sure that we have people at the table making these decisions, and the conversations obviously are going to be tough,” Torres said.
The city could spend $15 million on safe sleeping sites over the next two years, taken from Measure E, a property transfer tax approved by voters in 2020. The funds will be used to design, build and operate the sanctioned tent sites, costing anywhere from $18,000 to $40,000 per tent, or $9 million to $20 million for 500 tents.
“We can’t allow our public spaces to fall into squalor any more than we can allow our homeless neighbors to live in it,” Mahan said. “This area will be the first to see the benefits of this new solution to homelessness — one that will preserve our park and protect it from re-encampment.”
This year, the city’s focus is on building temporary housing solutions, including safe parking sites and emergency temporary housing, with a goal of adding 628 tiny homes before next July — though construction of these homes has faced delays.
Three-fourths of Measure E funds were intended to be used for affordable housing construction, with 25% going to homelessness prevention, rental assistance and shelters. However, councilmembers voted in June to shift about $25 million toward clearing the waterways and creating interim housing for homeless residents, leaving $11 million for building affordable homes this fiscal year.
“I would rather that we build a lot of affordable housing,” Torres said. “But right now there is a humanitarian crisis.”
Contact Joyce Chu at [email protected] or follow @joyce_speaks on X, formerly known Twitter.
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