The Abridged version:
- Over the last year, Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty has been pushing to add four tiny home sites across the city to address homelessness.
- Sacramento’s city manager recently pressed pause on a controversial site planned in North Natomas. Another site planned in Land Park or the Pocket does not have a clear path forward.
- Two other sites in South Sacramento are moving forward, but with reduced footprints due to cost and space concerns.
Last September, Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty announced a plan to add new tiny home communities across the city with hopes of providing more shelter for unhoused seniors.
Nearly a year later, two of those sites lack a clear path forward to construction and the other two have been reduced in size.
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City Manager Maraskeshia Smith said Tuesday that a controversial tiny home shelter planned for North Natomas has been “paused.” The comments arrived after The Sacramento Bee reported that the project cost had ballooned from an initial $3.4 million estimate to $7.1 million for a 40-unit tiny home project.
The city’s intention to add tiny home shelters across the city has faced headwinds since it was first announced. At the time, then interim city manager Leyne Milstein had selected three different addresses for tiny homes at Arena Boulevard in North Natomas, 25th Street near Executive Airport and Gardendale Road in Meadowview.
The city has also hoped to add a fourth site in the city’s District 7, which includes Land Park and the Pocket. Leaders have yet to announce a prospective address for the tiny home community in the area. Councilmember Rick Jennings did not respond to a request for comment on the tiny home site in his district.
No site has been selected yet for District 7, according to city spokesperson Jennifer Singer.
“The City Manager’s focus is on delivering the Gardendale Road and 25th Street Micro-Communities, which are further along in the planning and approval process,” Singer said in a statement. “The City Manager will continue to assess the viability of future Micro-Community sites throughout the city.”
North Natomas tiny home site ‘on pause’
Controversy swirled around the North Natomas site from the time it was first announced last year. The tiny homes are proposed for a 1.58-acre strip of land at Arena Boulevard and El Centro Road.
Residents from the neighborhood filed a legal challenge to the project, and Councilmember Lisa Kaplan, who represents North Natomas, has been openly skeptical about the viability of the project.
In a written statement, Vice Mayor Karina Talamantes, who represents South Natomas, said the project was halted due to flood and construction cost concerns.
“The Arena Boulevard site presents challenges because it is located in an A99 flood zone, which requires additional engineering, drainage and compliance work,” Talamantes wrote.
Representatives for the city confirmed that the project is “on pause,” rather than completely off the table.
“As planning progressed, staff identified operational and site-specific challenges that require further evaluation, and the project is currently on pause,” Singer said.
South Sacramento tiny home sites shrink
The city is still moving forward with a pair of tiny home sites at 2461 Gardendale Road and 6360 25th St.
While the projects were initially expected to house 40 units each, both of them have been reduced due to cost constraints and space concerns, according to the city.
The Gardendale Road site recently broke ground with plans to build out a 30-unit project, according to the city. Cost concerns saw the city reduce the scope of the project
“The number of units at Gardendale was reduced from the original concept to help manage overall project costs as the City refined its estimates and gained a better understanding of actual construction and site-development costs,” Singer said.
Sacramento’s city manager is allowed greater discretion over where to put homeless shelters if those projects are under $5 million, per a 2023 decision from the Sacramento City Council. Projects over that benchmark go to a full vote before the council.
At the 25th Street site in Brentwood, near Executive Airport, city leaders are now preparing for a 27-unit tiny home site.
The number of units on that site was reduced due to the smaller size of the site, Singer said.
