The San Rafael City Council voted last night to purchase property in the Terra Linda neighborhood for a tiny home interim shelter. KALW’s Rachel Longan has more.
Some San Rafael residents opposed the project because they say the council started real estate negotiations behind closed doors.
A group that calls itself the Citizens for Solutions not Secrecy filed a lawsuit claiming the city violated the Brown Act. This law requires local government agencies to hold their meetings in public. But a judge ruled last Friday to allow the council to proceed with the vote.
The city wants to install 65 private cabins for temporary shelter at 350 Merrydale Road. Then they will use the land to build permanent affordable housing.
Mayor Kate Colin spoke before the vote.
“We are at a precipice for doing something tonight, that I truly believe can be changing, not just here in Marin, but in California.”
The council unanimously approved resolutions to declare a shelter crisis and adopt an urgency ordinance to fast track the interim housing project.