SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento’s yearslong struggle to open sites for homeless people living in vehicles will likely continue after the federal government dismissed the city’s latest idea as “reprehensible” and “dystopian.”

The sharp rebuke could halt the city’s plans to open a safe parking site at the Franklin Light Rail Station in south Sacramento. The proposal, unveiled earlier this summer, remained in its early stages but is dependent on approval from the Federal Transit Administration.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Transportation, which oversees the FTA, blasted Gov. Gavin Newsom and said, in a statement to The Sacramento Bee, that it would not approve “this ridiculous request.”

“Instead of addressing the high cost of living, Newsom’s solution is to designate commuter parking as a homeless encampment,” the spokesperson said. “It’s disturbing, reprehensible and dystopian. This administration cares about hardworking Californians who depend on transit and commuter stations, even if their own governor obviously does not.”

The statement garnered mixed and surprised reactions from elected leaders who serve on the Sacramento Regional Transit Board, the public agency working with the city on a draft lease agreement for the site.

Sacramento County Board of Supervisor Patrick Kennedy, who called the federal rebuke “stunning,” said the site should still be pursued through a formal application, while acknowledging the looming challenge.

“I don’t know that it’s going to be possible to change their mind based upon the outlandish language that was in their response,” Kennedy said.

Others, such as Council member Caity Maple, said the response “makes clear” that the city must adjust its strategy. She called it “unfortunate” that the project was being politicized by President Donald Trump’s administration.

“This situation is yet another reminder of how challenging it is to find suitable locations for people experiencing homelessness,” Maple said in a statement. “We will continue searching for options, and we will not give up.”

The city still plans to finalize an agreement with RT, which it will submit to the FTA if approved by the board, said city spokesperson Julie Hall in a statement. Other options will be pursued if the agency denies the request, she added.

“The parking lot at the Franklin Light Rail Station is underutilized and could be used as a safe parking site without disrupting commuters,” Hall said.

Newsom’s office responded to the federal statement by refuting its critiques on the state’s homelessness and bashing Trump for “killing jobs” and the economy.

The federal government’s opposition is only the latest setback in Sacramento’s long struggle to open safe parking sites. The region has repeatedly failed to launch all types of shelter for homeless people, but almost none have failed more often and publicly than efforts to open sites for homeless parkers.

Regional leaders have proposed or considered at least 20 safe parking sites since 2019, according to past reporting from The Bee. Only three ever opened, and none remain in operation.

Such projects often encounter more hurdles than traditional shelters, including heightened public opposition, higher costs and additional liability concerns, said Arturo Baiocchi, a Sacramento State social work professor.

Sacramento’s failures have fueled cynicism among both residents and the homeless community, Baiocchi added. He questioned why the city had explored the Franklin Light Rail Station, a site that required federal approval from an administration shifting toward harsher homelessness policies.

“It just seemed like it’s destined to fail,” he said.

History of safe parking in Sacramento

The concept of safe parking dates back more than 20 years, with the first known location opening in Southern California in 2004. The idea gained momentum statewide the following decade, with cities like Monterey and San Diego opening lots for homeless people to safely park and stay with their cars rather than public roadways.

In Sacramento, homeless activists began pressuring city leaders to create safe parking zones in the fall of 2017, according to previous reporting from The Bee.

By 2019, as homeless numbers climbed, the City Council directed staff to develop a proposal to create safe parking zones. That same year, then-Council member Jay Schenirer suggested a temporary shelter at the Florin Light Rail Station. The idea drew community opposition, and Schenirer later identified an alternative location, said RT spokesperson Jessica Gonzalez.

Over the next year, city leaders suggested several sites, including Cal Expo and a church parking lot.

Sacramento opened its first ever safe parking site in January 2021 at a city-owned garage at 10th and I streets. Less than two months later, the garage was closed after a homeless man started a fire that badly damaged the eight-story structure. Repairs cost about $500,000, according to previous reporting from The Bee.

That spring, the city opened two more safe ground sites — or sanctioned sites for homeless people. Both offered spaces for homeless people with vehicles, and have since closed.

“These new safe ground sites will be a key part of our new master plan for homelessness,“ said then-Mayor Darrell Steinberg at the time.

What followed was a yearlong push to identify dozens of new homeless sites, many of them safe parking sites.

From May 2021 to May 2022, specific sites proposed by city leaders included the old Raley’s supermarket location on Freeport Blvd., Sutter’s Landing Park, 102 acres in Meadowview, Florin Road Light Rail Station parking lot, the end of Rosin Court, 3331 Fruitridge Rd., and 24th Street and 48th Avenue.

In nearly every case, public opposition, regulatory hurdles or costs derailed the plans.

In one notable example, the city spent $617,000 to fence and pave the North Sacramento site before a disagreement between officials and the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board over how many vehicles would be allowed. This site later became Camp Resolution, a self-governing homeless encampment made up of largely homeless disabled seniors. The city closed the camp in August 2024.

Another proposed safe parking lot at the Roseville Road Light Rail station secured federal approval and a three-party lease agreement between the city, Caltrans and RT in 2022. The city terminated the lease later that year after updating its homeless strategy, with an increased focus on permanent housing solutions, Gonzalez said.

“These kinds of failures are really a result of neighborhood pushback and a kind of bureaucratic malaise,” Baiocchi said.

What happens next?

The city’s longest-running and most recent safe parking site closed nearly two years ago. The site went through multiple iterations, first operating on Front Street in 2021 before moving to Miller Park the following year.

The Miller Park site, which was often evacuated during winter storms, closed in early 2024. Residents were moved to the city’s Roseville Road shelter-and-service campus, Hall said.

Since then, city leaders have largely avoided discussing safe parking sites or similar models. At multiple times, officials have referred to them as “failures.” Sacramento County is expected to open its first safe parking site by the end of 2026, said county spokesperson Janna Haynes.

Mayor Kevin McCarty, who campaigned on expanding Safe Ground sites, has instead pushed the city to redirect resources toward smaller, community-based housing options, such as tiny homes and “micro communities.”

In July, Brian Pedro, director of Sacramento’s Department of Community Response, appeared before the RT board to introduce the idea of a safe parking site at the Franklin Light Rail Station at 4801 Cosumnes River Boulevard.

“We’re not looking to make this an RV park,” Pedro told the board at the time. “We are looking for a safe spot for them to park, that’s off the road.”

Under the city’s proposal, roughly 20% of the station’s parking spaces would be used to accommodate 60 to 80 registered vehicles. The site would offer 24-hour security, portable restrooms and showers.

McCarty has since included the safe parking proposal in his “six-point plan,” which also calls for tiny homes, safe camping areas and permanent supportive housing projects. When asked this week about the federal rejection, he praised recent progress in reducing homelessness and said the city would pursue the Franklin Light Rail Station “as well as other possible locations.”

Chris Flores, the RT chief of staff and real estate officer, at the board’s July meeting, noted the city’s history of attempting to open similar sites, and warned that the federal approval process could be tougher now.

“While the FTA was quick to grant concurrence to Roseville Road three years ago, this is a different administration,” he said.

____

©2025 The Sacramento Bee. Visit at sacbee.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.