Yreka’s City Council passed an ordinance over the summer that outlawed camping in public areas, targeting several persistent homeless encampments including a hill near Siskiyou County Behavioral Health Services dotted with dozens of tents.
The City Council’s decision came after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June allowing localities to ban public camping, even if no shelters exist for those ticketed. In July, California Governor Gavin Newsom, in support of the court’s decision, signed an directing agencies to remove homeless encampments on state land.
But although Yreka now has the power to clear encampments, and passed an ordinance to do so, authorities have been waiting for the county’s first adult homeless shelter to open before they enforce the law.
“A lot of our homeless individuals that have some of the biggest challenges — these are people that are homegrown,” said Tara Kilcollins, program manager for Yreka's planned shelter. “Our city council members have known them. Our board of supervisor representatives have known them since they were little kids. And they know that this isn't a problem that can just be pushed somewhere else.”
The city set a Nov. 1 deadline to clear homeless encampments, figuring that was plenty of time for Kilcollins’ 32-bed shelter, to open. But Kilcollins said there were delays as North Valley Catholic Social Services, the non-profit group building the facility, faced challenges like finding contractors in the rural area and meeting California building codes. For example, she said, strict Americans with Disabilities Act requirements have contributed to keeping the shelter from becoming operational as quickly as possible.
“We're looking at a situation where people that are bound to wheelchairs are literally living on a dirt hill that's very steep,” said Kilcollins. “So if they can't go over a tiny little bump to get into the building, that's not okay with code. But we don't care that they're living on a hill.”
Kilcollins said a by local government could have cut some of that red tape. Without it, she said getting the shelter up and running has been a struggle.
“Our kitchen has been a significant issue,” said Kilcollins. “If you're doing construction, any area that you have your permit for has to be completely up to code.”
Yreka authorities have held off clearing encampments so far, knowing the Yreka Basecamp as well as the city's own 15-unit tiny home village need more time for completion. Kilcollins said the shelter would open in January under a best-case scenario. That opening wouldn’t beat the cold Yreka winter but would be in time for next year’s fire season. She said concern over wildfires is a major motivation for wanting the encampments cleared.
“But, you know, we've had so many unexpected things happen with this building that every time that we think that we have a date or a timeline, something happens,” she said.
