New state legislation designed to fast-track approvals for low-barrier service-oriented homeless shelters such as one proposed for Watsonville sailed through its first committee this week.
The Interim Housing Act or Senate Bill 1395, would ease building efforts for housing-oriented navigation shelters in communities that have declared the existence of shelter emergencies. Bill author Sen. Josh Becker, D-San Mateo, described, in particular, a growing approach to addressing homelessness with “nonpermanent or relocatable housing communities built on underutilized vacant land” while permanent housing is under construction.
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