The Abridged version:
- Councilmember Phil Pluckebaum is proposing a cap on the number of homeless shelters and social service providers in the up-and-coming River District.
- The draft ordinance states that the district’s stigma as the city’s “skid row” has stalled economic development.
- About 9,188 people were homeless in Sacramento County as of November 2025, a number that appears to be growing.
Sacramento City Councilmember Phil Pluckebaum is proposing to halt new shelter beds and services for homeless individuals in the city’s River District.
The proposed ordinance is set to go before the City Council’s Law and Legislation Committee on Tuesday at 11 a.m.
The proposal was put forward by Pluckebaum, who represents the central city’s District 4. He said Thursday that the River District has more than its share of homeless beds and services.
City staffers estimate that the River District currently has about 526 shelter beds across four shelters and a hotel program for unhoused families. The draft ordinance would set a cap at 526 shelter beds and would also prohibit any new social service providers in the district. If a shelter closes, replacement beds would require a two-thirds vote from the City Council, according to the draft ordinance.
The draft ordinance says the high number of shelter beds has created “a persistent stigma identifying the River District as the city’s ‘skid row.'” The ordinance also states that the concentration of shelters has also contributed to “disproportionate” levels of vandalism, theft and assaults, and stalled economic development.
District 4, which includes the River District, has the highest number of shelter beds in the city with a total of 558. District 6, which includes neighborhoods east of Stockton Boulevard and along Fruitridge Road, has the second highest number at 544 beds, according to the ordinance. Other areas, like North Natomas’ District 1 and Land Park and the Pocket’s District 7 don’t have any shelter beds.
The proposal arrives as the number of people living on the streets in Sacramento appears to be on the rise.
About 9,188 people were homeless in Sacramento County as of November 2025, according to the tracker maintained by Sacramento Steps Forward, a nonprofit that coordinates the county’s homelessness response. That number is significantly higher than the number reported in the last point-in-time count conducted in 2024, which recorded a homeless population of 6,615, as initially reported by The Sacramento Bee. A new count is scheduled for Jan. 26 and 27.
River District has long been home to unhoused
Homelessness in the River District has been contentious for decades. Sacramento previously had a ban on the addition of new social services and shelters near Richards Boulevard dating to 1989. In early 2025, however, the city declared a “shelter crisis” and rescinded the old ordinance to allow for more emergency housing and a new navigation center for homeless individuals in the River District.
Devin Stricker, executive director of the River District’s property improvement business district, said homeless individuals were first pushed into the district from Old Sacramento in the 1950s and ’60s.
“Over time this became the area where social services were located and different jurisdictions would route unhoused people here because they would get help here,” Stricker said.
Today, those policies have changed as Sacramento has a more centralized approach to placing people in shelters and services that is not based out of the River District, he said.
Pluckebaum said that the proposed ordinance would not deny or defer any additional shelters planned in the River District, but would return policy to before the 2025 change.
“It’s a nothing-burger,” he said.
“We just didn’t want to be out of compliance with the (city code). Now we’re bringing it back with a higher cap because we’ve added additional beds.”
Influx of new housing and development
Recently, developers and city leaders alike have attempted to transform the historically industrial River District into an extension of downtown Sacramento.
More than 1,000 residential units have been added in recent years, with more housing in the pipeline. The area is also poised for an influx of state workers after the state built and opened a new office complex with room for 5,000 employees on Richards Boulevard.
Immediately next to the district, the Railyards has plans underway for a new soccer stadium, an entertainment district with a concert venue, a large-scale Kaiser Permanente hospital and a new federal courthouse.
“We want the city and the county to address the existing conditions before they would think of putting more (services) here,” Stricker said.
Sticker, who lives in the River District, argued that many people and advocates don’t understand the day-to-day struggles of residents and business owners in the district. At the same time, those residents and workers want to see relief for homeless individuals.
“You won’t find anyone who isn’t sympathetic to people living on the street,” Stricker said.
Social service provider skeptical of cap
Sacramento Loaves and Fishes is one of the most prominent service providers in the River District. Executive Director Angela Hassell said the organization first established itself in the district in the 1980s as homeless individuals were being pushed into downtown.
“Our philosophy was we’re going to go where the people are,” Hassell said.
Hassell said she was skeptical of the proposed ordinance and said that it appeared to conflict with Mayor Kevin McCarty’s six-point plan to expand the city’s number of shelter beds. That proposal includes plans for safe camping site with room for 100 people in the River District. Those numbers are not included in the cap in the draft ordinance.
Hassell added that the proposal also appears to conflict with the city manager’s authority to select where new shelter sites for the city, a policy that the council approved in 2023.
“You can’t just wipe a district of its homeless and its poor people. You have to give them somewhere to go,” Hassell said.
Felicia Alvarez is a reporter at Abridged covering accountability. She’s called Sacramento home since 2015 and has reported on government, health care and breaking news topics for both local and national news outlets.