The Richmond City Council voted Tuesday to deny an appeal by proponents of an emergency shelter, with the elected members finding in part that relations with neighbors are too strained for the shelter to move forward.
On Dec. 19 last year after the fourth public hearing, the city’s Planning Commission rejected a proposal to establish a 25-bed emergency shelter inside a former 5,045 square foot office building at 207 37th St. (at Bissell Avenue).
The issue is that from May through August of 2023, the building was used as an emergency shelter to house 15 individuals who were displaced after the city cleared out the Castro encampment in North Richmond. Neighbors living in the vicinity of 37th and Bissell complained the shelter brought rampant crime in their neighborhood, including drugs, violence, vandalism and prostitution. The Richmond Police Department said calls for service to the area in and around the building increased significantly during the time it served as a shelter.
The shelter, operated by the nonprofit California Portsmouth Square Association (CPSA), was forced to close in August 2023 following a failed fire inspection. Individuals who had stayed in the building were relocated to hotels. The RPD assessment recommended that if the site were to become a shelter again, it should have on-site security at all times.
Soon after, the CPSA brought plans to the city proposing alterations, mostly to the building’s exterior, with the aim of rendering the project compliant, according to city staff. Ultimately, the Planning Commission denied the project, in part due to its neighborhood impact but also on the grounds that there were “insufficient measures to address community complaints.”
In the denial of the CPSA’s appeal on Tuesday, Mayor Eduardo Martinez joined Councilmember Doria Robinson in saying the relationship between CPSA and neighbors was too strained for the project to become successful. Racist comments reportedly hurled from both sides during one of the hearings — and overheard by Councilmember Robinson — played a role in the City Council’s decision to deny the project.
