Homeless hotel plan ends for those in fire prone areas of Santa Barbara

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - A program to relocate the homeless from fire prone areas into a hotel has ended.

The Rose Garden Inn at 3643 State Street was used from July until the end of January. The original schedule was going to end in October but it was extended.

The budget began at $1.6 million. It's estimated the two phases will cost about $3 million with a portion of the funding coming from a city sales tax fund known as Measure C.

The plan was to use the site for temporary bridge housing, complete with assistance ranging from health to daily food and eventually for those who qualified, a Section 8 housing voucher followed by a new place to live.

Some of the occupants did not make it through the program.

The city also said some of those who did qualify to get a government assisted unit were not able to find anything available in the tight and expensive Santa Barbara market.

Eleven of the homeless in transition were placed in housing, according to Santa Barbara City Councilmember Eric Friedman.

He said about 63 people were moved from camps through the hotel program over the duration of the project.

"We  have this as a pilot program to study and use as a foundation on building our policies in the future to help those who are experiencing homelessness," said Friedman.

The costs, however, were covered from different sources and something the city would not be able to duplicate on an ongoing basis. "At the end of the day it is not a sustainable model for the city on its own to invest millions of dollars on this. We just couldn't do it long term.    We were able to get valuable data for other communities as well as our own staff as we  try to build policies as we try to address homelessness." 

He said the neighborhood did have challenges from the program in part because of others who came to the location that were not approved to be there. "Just loitering and vagrancy, crimes that impacted the  neighborhoods," he said. "There was a concern and safety for residents a few blocks away."

Friedman says, "routinely, there are zoom meetings with residents here and elsewhere in Santa Barbara to identify on going homeless impacts. Once a month there's a site visit." That included walking through locations where problems had been reported to see first hand what the issues were along with possible solutions. "Then the staff goes out and residents are invited to come along on those walks."

The city continues to look at other options for the homeless including a new 33-unit tiny house project in the development stages on Santa Barbara Street a block from the Santa Barbara Police headquarters. That will be a collaborative effort and run by Dignity Moves, which specializes in homeless services, along with Good Samaritan Shelter.

"Those units have the wrap around services, they have the support and they are not a drop in center  you have be invited to come in there, you have to be in the system," said Friedman.

In recent days there have been several small fires in the area of homeless camps along the freeway and railroad track zones.

The city says some of the people who were in the hotel housing program are back on the streets but in touch with outreach workers for on going assistance.