Nobody said this would be easy.
The March 10 vote by the Nevada County Board of Supervisors on the Alternative/RV Housing Ordinance did not go as we hoped. Instead of approving the ordinance, four of the supervisors voted to throw out a year’s worth of staff work, taxpayer money and hundreds of written and spoken public comments, which were overwhelmingly in support of the ordinance. Only Supervisor Heidi Hall courageously held her ground to support the proposed ordinance.
With little consideration for the unintended consequences, the other four supervisors directed staff to add a “hardship” element to the existing RV ordinance. Living in a trailer is not a hardship, but the supervisors indicated that they would support a two-year limit on occupancy, which does make it a hardship.
A draft of the revised ordinance is due out in June with another vote scheduled for July 28. We are in negotiations with the supervisors and staff in private meetings.
At this point, the No Place To Go Project has no position on this new ordinance. The two-year limit is a dealbreaker for us, but we are willing to wait to see the draft ordinance before we take an official position on either supporting the ordinance or advising people to stay underground because the ordinance does not serve the needs of our constituents.
The No Place To Go Project Manifesto
When free enterprise and government can’t, don’t or won’t provide enough housing for all the people in our communities, the people have the right to find their own alternative housing.
And if they are living responsibly, they must not be punished, penalized, or forced to relocate when there is no place to go.
Likewise, people who rent alternative housing to people must not be punished or penalized if they are providing or hosting dwellings that meet emergency, code-equivalent, health & safety standards.
Because there is not enough housing for everyone, and because not everyone is housing-ready, safe parking lots and camps must be established.
Everybody has a right to be somewhere safe without fear of being forced to move.
It is not a crime to be homeless. The crime is there are not enough homes.