Piers 29 & 80 Could Temporarily House Homeless During El Niño

Piers 29 & 80 Could Temporarily House Homeless During El NiñoPhoto: Geri Koeppel/Hoodline
Geri Koeppel
Published on December 08, 2015

If the city gets drenched this winter with expected El Niño rains, it'll mean a lot of soaked homeless residents if the city can't find places to keep them out of the elements.

That's why Mayor Ed Lee asked city departments to identify properties under the city's control that could be used to act as temporary shelters. He's looking to set up 18 temporary sites with up to 100 beds in each location, and the sites will be deemed "tier 1" or "tier 2" locations, Port staff told us. Tier 1 will include 1,000 beds, and if those fill up, they'll open "tier 2" sites. These will complement the existing permanent shelter capacity of 1,140 beds. 

After the city presented this plan to the Port Commissioners, they "noted the significant populations of homeless individuals that are present along Port property and urged Port staff to participate in solutions to serve this population," according to a memorandum of understanding (MOU). The plan for two tiers of shelters is not mentioned in the memorandum, but it's expected to be discussed at today's Port Commission meeting at 3:15pm at Pier 27, according to Port staff.

The Port of San Francisco came up with two sites that are tier 2 locations: Pier 29 (near The Embarcadero and Sansome Street) and the Pier 80 Shed (near Third Street and Cesar Chavez in Dogpatch). At Tuesday's Port Commission meeting, Port of San Francisco staff will ask for approval of the MOU, which contains details on the plans for the piers. It'll allow the San Francisco Human Services Agency (HSA) to use the buildings during inclement weather now through March 2016, or when the wet weather ceases.


Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Port staff brought up the plan at the December 2nd meeting of the Northeast Waterfront Advisory Group (NEWAG). “I think using an empty pier shed on a temporary basis for an emergency measure is a wise use of that resource," said NEWAG member Jon Golinger. "We should be thinking about using spaces like these in times of emergency."

Golinger said staff explained that the shelters would only be open for two or three days to house people for a rainstorm, and when the rain’s over, they'd close it. One concern brought up at NEWAG, he said, was that homeless residents would wait for it to reopen, creating a large encampment at the pier. The city has that in mind, he said, and will help the homeless return to their usual home base when the shelters are closed. 

The Port's memorandum of understanding notes that HSA would provide:

  • a demised area, such as tent walls with no roof, with electric heaters to house up to 100 people (at each location)
  • portable restrooms
  • two meals prepared offsite
  • staffing including security personnel, a social worker, and qualified volunteers or city employees serving as Disaster Service Workers (likely drawn from existing HSA employees)

Also, HSA will be responsible for set-up, maintenance and closure of shelter facilities for each rain event. At the NEWAG meeting, members asked if a hotline would be set up in case issues arise. The memorandum states: "Port staff is collaborating with HSA staff to determine the feasibility of a hotline for residents and businesses to use regarding the proposed shelter locations."

Though neither pier shed is leased, the Port wants to issue a request for proposals to find a tenant for the bulkhead, or front portion, of Pier 29, and is asking the Port Commission for approval of the RFP at Tuesday's meeting. (It asked for approval at November's meeting, but was denied because the community asked to have more input.) However, the memorandum states, "Given noticing and other required steps, Port staff do not expect that bulkhead lease negotiations would start in earnest until late spring."