Special to The Post
At the May 3 special meeting of the Oakland City Council, members approved a resolution introduced by Councilmember Carroll Fife directing the City Administrator to study the feasibility of establishing an emergency homeless intervention site to house 1,000 individuals at the North Gateway Parcel located at the former Oakland Army Base.
According to the resolution, the findings must be returned to the Council no later than the first Council meeting of June.
Over 40 constituents emailed the City Council in support of the resolution. Many shared being appalled at the state of homelessness in the City and urged the City Administrator to treat it as the emergency crisis that it is.
Several constituents called into the meeting including residents currently living near Custom Alloy Scrap Sales (CASS) and California Waste Solutions (CWS) who support the temporary use of the North Gateway Parcel until CASS and CWS is ready to begin development.
The City Administration went on record for the first time saying that it has been reviewing CWS’s development plans and expects permits to be approved by the beginning of 2023.
The City Administration has previously suggested an estimate of two to four years before development could realistically begin. The report is intended to resolve these discrepancies and put on record a clear construction timeline. This development would still allow most of the site to be used ahead of CASS’s development plans which are expected to be shared in the June report.
In response, District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife said, “It adds insult to injury that this parcel has been vacant for over a decade and it is only now that the public is being told that CWS will soon begin development.
“I look forward to reviewing the findings of the report, resolving some of the discrepancies that have been shared, and addressing how the site could still accommodate temporary housing ahead of and concurrent to this development. We need accommodations now.”
The June report is expected to be returned by the mid-cycle budget allocation, which will be a revealing moment indicating City of Oakland’s commitment to finding effective solutions to the homelessness crisis.
This report comes from the media relations office of Oakland City Councilwoman Carroll Fife.
The post Councilmember Carroll Fife’s Resolution OK’d to Study Feasibility of Housing 1,000 at North Gateway Parcel first appeared on Post News Group. This article originally appeared in Post News Group.
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