Less than two weeks before a state law goes into effect that will prohibit homeless people from sleeping in public places, Palm Beach County Mayor is thinking small.
Shunning the prospect of large homeless encampments or the construction of massive shelters to get the county’s estimated 2,100 homeless people off the streets, Sachs instead is turning to an option popularized by : tiny houses.
“I want to see the development of mini-cottage communities — tiny houses,” she said. “And once they step out of their houses, they would be surrounded by support services. We’re going to do it in the most compassionate way. We’re going to be a showcase for the state.”
Her proposal, which includes the possibility of using shipping containers along with small prefab homes to create housing, is when the County Commission considers various ways to deal with the state law that has potentially serious consequences not just for the homeless but for county and city governments as well.
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When the takes effect Oct. 1, police can arrest homeless people for sleeping in public spaces.
But, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said, that’s not going to happen.
“We cannot arrest our way out of this problem and need a multifaceted approach to address it,” he said in a statement.
Richard Radcliffe, executive director of the Palm Beach County League of Cities, said he expects police chiefs will follow the sheriff’s lead.
But, on Jan. 1, another provision kicks in.
If the county and cities allow people to continue to sleep in parks and along public roads and sidewalks, the governments can be sued by residents and business owners, according to the measure passed this year by the Florida Legislature.
Still, officials said, the delay gives them some breathing room.
“It’s not enforceable until January 1,” said James Green, director of the county’s Community Services Department, which along with other homeless advocates will lay out options for the commission to consider.
County considers buying hotel
While Green declined to share his recommendations, others said there are various ways to provide housing for the homeless relatively quickly.
The commission last week gave its staff the go-ahead to negotiate the purchase of a 114-bed former La Quinta Inn by Wyndham on Okeechobee Boulevard near Florida’s Turnpike that could quickly be used for temporary housing. On the market for $16 million, county staff said an appraisal set its value at $14 million. County officials said they would use sales tax money or federal funds to buy the hotel.
The Salvation Army has 30 beds available at its Center of Hope on Military Trail, just north of Westgate Avenue, said Major Leisa Hall, an area commander of the agency. Since the future residents would be part of a comprehensive six-month program that helps people turn their lives around, 60 people could be helped annually, she said.
The program costs $18,250 every six months, including housing and services. Small cities, which don’t have temporary housing, could contract with the agency for a bed. Then, if they are sued, they have proof they took steps to assure homeless people in their cities had a place to stay, she said.
Ezra Krieg, a longtime homeless expert and former director of the county’s 60-bed shelter on 45th Street, said such options and others should be explored.
Living in cars
But, he said, one easy and relatively inexpensive fix that has been used successfully in other parts of the country is a program known as Safe Parking.
Used for decades in cities like Santa Barbara, Calif., it gives homeless people who live in their cars, often families, a place to park overnight. Security is provided to keep people safe and services are offered to help them get back on their feet.
Studies show that roughly one in three people experiencing homelessness are living in their cars, according to , which has operated the Safe Parking program in California since 2004.
The agency has 200 parking spaces in the Santa Barbara area. People register and are provided services to help them find jobs and move into permanent housing. If they don’t qualify because they don’t have valid driver’s licenses or insurance, efforts are made to provide them with other housing. Over the years, more than 1,000 people have moved out of their cars and into homes, according to its website.
The programs that have cropped up around the country vary. Most offer portable toilets and access to an outdoor water tap. Most provide food. New Beginnings, for instance, says its staff distributes more than 450 pounds of food each month.
Krieg acknowledged that safe parking isn’t the solution to homelessness. “It’s not an end-all cure-all,” he said. “Trying to be perfect is the enemy of good. It’s better than people having to look over their shoulders.”
Janet Kranich, who helps operate Holy Ground, which has 13 apartments in Lake Worth and West Palm Beach for young pregnant women and those with children, said religious organizations could participate in the safe parking program and expand on traditional services.
“The church could let the homeless use some of their parking spaces and they could also invite them in to participate in events,” she said. “They could let the children come inside for activities. They could invite the families in if they’re having a dinner. It would give (the homeless) a social life.”
Green said faith-based and nonprofit organizations, along with landlords and businesses, are all critical players in the fight to combat homelessness.
“Homelessness is not a county problem,” he said. “It’s a community problem.”
Often, landlords are unwilling to take a chance on a homeless person, Hall said. Or, they balk because a person can’t pass a credit or criminal background check. Likewise, businesses are often reluctant to hire homeless people. So, the cycle continues.
Prosperity Village Cottage Homes
Krieg said long-term solutions, like Sachs’ plan to build tiny houses, are needed.
Already, the county in partnership with the West Palm Beach Housing Authority is building 17 small houses on Military Trail, south of 10th Avenue North. The county donated the land, which became vacant when the tax collector moved into new offices.
The $6 million sales tax-financed project, known as Prosperity Village Cottage Homes, consists of houses ranging in size from 980 to 1,200 square feet. It is intended to provide housing for “low and very low income” families to keep them from becoming homeless, Commissioner Mack Bernard said at the January 2023 groundbreaking.
Those houses are gigantic compared to the ones Sachs envisions to temporarily house homeless people and families. A central Florida contractor, for instance, offers one-bedroom homes that are 360 square feet and two-bedroom homes as small as 432 square feet.
Further, unlike Prosperity Village, which has been under construction for a year, the contractor said he can complete tiny houses in three or four months. Shipping containers, which are as small as 320 square feet, can also be put up quickly.
Costs vary, according to information Sachs has gathered. The central Florida contractor said the one-bedroom units cost about $99,000. A completed shipping container home costs about $25,000, more for larger ones, according to a Fort Lauderdale-based installer.
Sachs said she has gotten lower estimates, but acknowledged that additional research is needed. But, she said, she is convinced that the tiny houses could help the county solve what has been an intractable national problem.
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She pointed to Seattle, Washington, where housing advocates began building tiny homes in 2016 and since have created 18 villages that serve 2,000 people annually, according to Washington’s Low Income Housing Institute. With help from volunteers, nonprofits, construction trade groups and others, the cost of the 12-by-8-foot home is roughly $4,500, it says.
Palm Beach County isn’t alone in turning to mini-houses in response to the looming state law. Miami-Dade County is also considering building tiny homes for the homeless, according to the Miami Herald.
There is a 100-home mini-home village in Tampa, and additional ones planned, according to the city of Tampa’s website. The homes, built by Catholic Charities with the city, each measure 64 square feet, cost $10,000, have air conditioning and electricity and can withstand 150 mph winds, the site says.
While some tiny homes have kitchens and bathrooms, the ones at Tampa Hope don’t. But, there are communal bathrooms and showers, along with a kitchen, dining room, salon and laundry in a building on site.
Various nonprofits in the Orlando area are also using mini homes to fill housing gaps, according to media reports.
Site search focuses on industrial zones
Already, Sachs and county staff, joined by retired GL Homes President Alan Fant, have scouted locations in the West Palm Beach area. They are targeting what she called “distressed properties” in industrial and commercial areas, which would avoid antagonizing neighboring homeowners. She declined to identify the locations, fearing land prices would jump.
She said she is confident federal grant money would be available to help pay for construction.
Most importantly, she said the homes would promote a philosophy she embraces. For years, she said, homeless people were given addiction treatment. If they could remain clean, then they were given the opportunity for housing.
In recent years, homeless experts have embraced what is known as a Housing First approach. Green said it has been the county’s philosophy for years.
While initially skeptical, Sachs said the more she read about it the more it made sense.
“The most important thing we give them is the key to the front door” where they can escape the dangers of the streets that often fuel their addictions, Sachs said. “Big shelters don’t help because they don’t provide that security.”
Sachs acknowledged that the mini-home villages won’t be in place by Jan. 1, when suits could start flying. She said she plans to write Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General Ashley Moody to explain what the county is doing in hopes they or state lawmakers will relax the deadlines.
“We’ve got some challenges, no doubt about it,” she said. “We will work diligently and take care of this problem in Palm Beach County.”
But, she said, one thing is certain.
“We’re not,” she said, “going to build a tent city.”
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Of note: Faith In Action PBC will host its Sixth Annual Interfaith Convocation on Housing the Homeless at 9 am Oct. 9 at the United Methodist Church of the Palm Beaches, 900 Brandywine Road, West Palm Beach. Topics include alternative housing opportunities, the SMART Landlord program, Safe Parking and use of church property for housing. The program is free. Register by Oct. 5 or by emailing faithinactionpbc@gmail.com.
This story was originally published by , a WLRN News partner.
