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Redding City Council Considers Declaring A Shelter Crisis To Allow Emergency Housing Options

Redding.com

The Redding City Council is considering declaring a shelter crisis, which would pave the way to adapt building codes and build micro-shelters to house the homeless. 

During Tuesday night’s meeting, the council discussed how to proceed with building emergency housing. A relatively new portion of the California building code called Appendix O allows municipalities to build emergency housing units with fewer requirements than the normal building codes.

The council must first find that there is a shelter crisis and an immediate threat to health and safety. City Manager Barry Tippin told the council there are still certain restrictions.

“No, it doesn’t just open up a Pandora’s Box. What it does is provide the council with an ability to control the situation in a manner that you see fit for our community,” Tippin said. 

The type of shelter allowed, number of residents, and length of stay would all have to be considered.

The city would also have to decide whether a permit would be needed and for how long. Funding sources would also need to be identified, but the council seemed inclined to want to use non-profits more so than public funding.   

 

The council gave the city manager authority to draft a more thorough ordinance that will come back at a later date for approval.