Yuba County Municipal Code Art. 1 Scope and Application

Pursuant to authority granted in California Government Code, §§ 8698-8698.2, these regulations, as part of Title VII of the Yuba County Ordinance Code, shall be known as the Emergency Homeless Shelter and Facilities Code of the County of Yuba.

(Ord. No. 1558)

The purpose of this Chapter is to promote safe and uniform construction and operation of emergency homeless shelter facilities that are owned, operated, leased or maintained by the County of Yuba. The further purpose of this Chapter is to mitigate the negative effects of the shelter crisis occurring within the County of Yuba while preserving the public health and safety of all of its citizens.

(Ord. No. 1558)

A. Resolution No. 2016-69 was adopted by the Yuba County Board of Supervisors on July 26, 2016. The declarations made on that day continue to exist within the County as well as surrounding jurisdictions. The findings contained therein are hereby incorporated herein by reference.

B. On July 13, 2016, the Honorable California State Senator, Kevin De Leon, President Pro Tempore, sent correspondence to the Yuba County Board of Supervisors acknowledging that California has one-third of the nation's homeless. Senator De Leon cites that 58 percent of the State's 28,000 chronically homeless are unsheltered and are absorbing the greatest amount of taxpayers' resources. Senator De Leon also reported on the "No Place Like Home" initiative along with other funding initiatives to combat homelessness.

C. The most recent point-in-time statistical count of the Yuba and Sutter Counties homeless population is 716. Further, the number of self-declared homeless individuals reporting to the Yuba County Department of Health and Human Services Department far exceeds that count. The Yuba-Sutter regional resource of homeless shelter beds is 208 and those resources are unable to support the demand for homeless individuals who are unsheltered.

D. Because of the lack of available low-income dwellings for rent, the homeless population is also unable to obtain low-cost housing. The number of people occupying homeless encampments and the concentration of homeless encampments continue to increase and are creating an immediate and serious health and safety threat to both the occupants of the encampments as well as the citizens of Yuba County.

E. The Yuba County Board of Supervisors finds that immediate action, in the form of an urgency ordinance, is necessary to combat the lack of available homeless shelter resources accessible to our local homeless population.

F. State and local regulatory statutes, regulations, and ordinances that prescribe standards for housing, health, and safety, hinder and/or delay the County's ability to implement strategies geared towards reducing homelessness and its need to preserve the public peace, health and safety.

G. Pursuant to California Government Code § 8698.1, Yuba County shall be immune from liability for ordinary negligence for conditions, acts or omissions directly related to the provision of emergency shelters.

H. Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") and State CEQA Guidelines, the adoption of this Chapter is exempt from CEQA review pursuant to Title 14. California Code of Regulations section 15061(b)(3), and notice of exemption will be filed upon adoption of this Chapter.

I. Adoption of this Chapter under urgency is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety, as set forth in Government Code § 25123(d), in order to assist homeless individuals in accessing temporary emergency shelter and to mitigate the health and safety hazards identified with homeless encampments.

(Ord. No. 1558)

Any Yuba County facility that is designated for use as an emergency homeless shelter, and that is owned, operated, leased or maintained, or any combination thereof by the County of Yuba shall be subject to this Code.

(Ord. No. 1558)