The price tag for San Jose’s largest-ever planned safe parking site for homeless people living in RVs has been slashed in half, city officials announced Thursday.
During a news conference at the future site, an empty lot in the city’s Berryessa neighborhood, Mayor Matt Mahan touted his push to bring down costs by redesigning the project, which is still set to host around 85 vehicles. The city now expects to spend about $7.5 million completing the site, down from the more than $15 million officials had initially estimated.
Officials said the main difference in the redesign is less office space for staff who will operate the lot, about a mile from the Berryessa BART station at 1300 Berryessa Road. However, RV residents will still receive supportive services and have on-site bathrooms and laundry.
On Thursday, Mahan, who’s widely expected to sail to reelection next week, framed the savings as part of his broader effort to bring homeless people off the streets faster and more cost-effectively. To solve street homelessness, he has focused on expanding “quick-build” cabin shelters and safe parking sites rather than permanent affordable housing, which in the Bay Area can cost as much as $1 million per door.
“We cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good,” he said.
Launching the 6.3-acre site, set to open this fall despite safety concerns from some neighbors, may cost less than building new affordable housing, but operating it may not be cheap in the long run. When the city approved the site last year, officials estimated expenses would exceed $24 million over five years.
And if the city follows through on plans to add hundreds more safe parking spots and other “interim” shelter units, total operational expenses could soon exceed $70 million a year, about twice the current cost.
Some advocates have also raised concerns that without significantly more investment in affordable housing, many who move into the new safe parking sites and cabin shelters won’t end up finding lasting homes. In 2022, about half of the roughly 900 people who stayed in such interim sites moved to permanent housing, according to a city report.
Mahan said he hopes to find more money in the city budget to support his shelter plans. He maintains the costs are worth it, given the human suffering on the streets and the strain homelessness puts on emergency services, law enforcement and city parks, creeks and public spaces.
San Jose has an estimated 6,200 homeless residents, about 70% of whom live outdoors or in vehicles.
“Our fire department is responding to a couple dozen fires a day in our encampments,” Mahan said. “The environmental degradation, and ultimately even just the clean water issues, are really significant and are forcing cities across the state to be more pragmatic about getting people to safe and managed sites.”
