The city of Sacramento has ordered Camp Resolution — a first-of-it-kind close community of unhoused people living in city trailers — to close next month.

Assistant City Manager Mario Lara sent a letter March 28 to Mark Merin of Safe Ground Sacramento, Inc., which leases the site from the city. A state document allowing people to live in trailers on the site despite air contamination, expires June 1. Due to that, the city is ordering all residents to move off the city-owned North Sacramento lot by May 16.

Merin is trying to convince city staff to let the residents stay longer at the two-acre site, at Colfax Street and Arden Way, he said. If that doesn’t work, he hopes the city will open another safe parking site in North Sacramento where residents can move after the May 16 eviction date.

The city has met with Merin to discuss the possibility of a new safe parking site, city spokesman Tim Swanson said.

“The city remains committed to helping unsheltered individuals connect with all available resources and to working with community partners to explore new ways to address the ongoing homelessness crisis,” Swanson said.

The city in 2022 signed a variance with the Central Valley Regional Water Board that allowed people to camp in trailers on the site, but prohibited them to camp in tents, due to vapor contamination. The type of contamination that’s present is not harmful to people in vehicles because they’re raised off the ground, the water board said at the time. Some people lived in tents anyway, prompting District Attorney Thien Ho to threaten to sue the city. People are no longer living in tents on the site.

Swanson said the city cannot comment further about the site because of Ho’s threat of prosecution.

Patrick Pulupa, executive officer for the Central Valley Regional Water Board, said it was ultimately the city’s decision to close Camp Resolution.

“We understand that enforcement of the variance conditions was difficult for both the city and the occupants of the site and respect the city’s decision to close the safe parking site,” Pulupa said in an email. “Our response to this situation has always focused on safeguarding the health and safety of the people living at Camp Resolution. We will pledge to work with the city as it looks for alternate sites where vapor contamination is not a concern.”

Where could new homeless site open?

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