City council to discuss homeless housing project at special meeting
HASLO has partnered with PSHH and ECHO in securing a $15 million State Project Homekey grant to purchase and renovate the 122-room Motel 6 located at 1134 Black Oak Drive in Paso Robles. Photo from Motel 6.
–The Paso Robles City Council will be hosting a special meeting Thursday at 6:30 p.m. to discuss the proposed motel to homeless shelter conversion project that would use state grant funds.
In response to a shelter crisis in the city, the city council authorized city staff to collaborate with El Camino Homeless Organization (ECHO) to apply for a HEAP grant in March of 2019. ECHO was granted $588,797 to hire additional case managers and enhance its existing Atascadero operations, and the city was granted $920,126 to construct an emergency warming center at Sulphur Springs Road. An anticipated budget shortfall of over $4 million to construct both a homeless services center and a pedestrian path in conjunction with the economic downturn resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to the Sulphur Springs project. The city now must either reallocate $920,126 in HEAP funding to another homeless services project in Paso Robles or forfeit the funds to SLOCO for use elsewhere in the county.
The Housing Authority of San Luis Obispo has partnered with People’s Self Help Housing and ECHO in securing a $15 million State Project Homekey grant to purchase and renovate the 122-room Motel 6 located at 1134 Black Oak Drive in Paso Robles. The group plans to convert 63 rooms to permanent, low-income housing; 50 additional rooms will be leased to ECHO to provide emergency housing for people experiencing homelessness in Paso Robles. Escrow on the property is expected to close as of Nov. 10.
On June 29, 2020, Governor Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill No. 83 (AB 83), legislation to implement funds appropriated in the 2020 Budget Act for Project Homekey. In summary, Project Homekey commits $600 million in grant funding for the acquisition and conversion of hotels, motels, and similar properties into housing for persons experiencing homelessness.
To learn more about the project, deadlines, costs, and other details, read the complete staff report here.
City Council meetings will be held by teleconference only until further notice. Rather than attending in person, residents should call (805) 865-7276 to provide public comment via phone (the phone line will open just prior to the start of the regular meeting at 6:30 PM) or written public comments can be submitted via email to cityclerk@prcity.com prior to noon on the day of the council meeting to be posted as an addendum to the agenda. If submitting written comments in advance of the meeting, please note the agenda item by number or name. Council meetings will be live-streamed and available to play later on YouTube by accessing the following link: www.prcity.com/youtube.
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