It’s an undisputed fact that there is not enough housing in Nevada County, especially for our workforce, low-income and housing-ready homeless populations.

The soon-to-be announced draft of an alternative housing ordinance for Nevada County would define RVs and trailers on private property as safe and legal housing. The ordinance is designed to be a right-here, right-now mitigation of our homeless/housing crisis.

This ordinance would create affordable housing without building anything or spending millions the county does not have. Additionally, passage of the ordinance would help the county earn incentive funding under the state’s Prohousing Program.

The No Place To Go Project (formerly Sierra Roots/No Place To Go Project) and the citizens who understand that we’re all in this together are actively advocating for the ordinance.

There are three primary groups of stakeholders involved with this ordinance: renters, landlords and everybody else.

Relief for renters

Nevada County has a housing black market, and I am part of it. Because we and our landlords are essentially “outlaws,” nobody really knows how many of us already live illegally in RVs/trailers on private property. Mobile RV-repair services – the people most likely to know – tell me “thousands” of us live illegally.

From deep inside Grass Valley city limits to far out in rural Nevada County, we are living below the radar. We don’t have legal addresses, and we are in constant fear of Code Compliance forcing our landlords to make us move when there is no place to go. All it takes is one anonymous complaint.

For many of us, trailers and RVs are all we can find or afford. These homes on wheels are the only thing between us and homelessness – and they are the most affordable option for people transitioning out of homelessness.

Landlord opportunity

I never want to be a landlord. Although it would have been financially advantageous for me to rent the trailer I for owned for six years, I sold it instead because I did not want the hassle and stress of being a landlord.

The alternative housing ordinance is designed to generate housing for low-income people and people transitioning out of homelessness – and to create income for property owners.

I have sympathy for landlords, but many landlords won’t rent to homeless people. One recently told me it’s the worst job he’s ever had. He said he’d rent to people who are “down on their luck,” but he won’t rent to homeless people.

Pauli Halstead, a well-know homeless activist and landlord, also said she will never rent to homeless people again.

Drugs, violence and property damage have been committed by some homeless people. This has given all homeless people a bad name and made it so much harder for responsible, housing-ready people to get out of homelessness. It’s not their fault there is no housing for them.

Landlords don’t have a pristine reputation either. Slumlords prey upon desperate tenants who pay exorbitant rent for inferior housing.

I am a model tenant. I always pay my rent on time and do not cause problems. My current and previous landlords are wonderful, kind people who saved me from becoming homeless, but I’ve also had landlords who forced me into homeless because of their greed and prejudice.

If the alternative housing ordinance is approved, some landowners will rent out alternative housing because they want to be part of the solution. Others will do it for the money.

Property owners are getting slammed by fire insurance costs. For some, renting out space for an RV/trailer or their own RV/trailer might be the only way they can afford to keep their property.

Nevada County and the FREED Center for Independent living have a new landlord-liaison program to protect landlords who want to take a chance on renting to a chronically homeless person.

Mostly, though, there are good landlords and good tenants who can mutually benefit from the proposed ordinance. Nevertheless, just as it is in the general rental market, both tenants and landlords must beware of bad actors.

Everybody else

From neighbors to NIMBYs (not in my backyard) to the Board of Supervisors, the alternative housing ordinance has positive and negative implications depending on who you are.

NIMBYs tend to believe people who live in RV/trailers are all trailer trash and will ruin their neighborhoods. Many believe the best way to handle the victims of the homeless/housing crisis is to put them on buses to anywhere but here.

Two big fears of the NIMBYs are unsightly trailer parks and fire evacuation danger.

Unpermitted, ad hoc trailer parks are illegal under state law, and the No Place To Go Project is not trying to change that. We do, however, advocate small, self-managed communities of low-income housing, which might include RVs or trailers .

For everybody’s safety, the No Place To Go Project supports a prohibition on moving alternative housing on wheels on dangerously congested evacuation routes during a wildfire evacuation warning or order. Residents of wheeled alternative housing must leave their homes behind just  like other residents.

Even with these concessions, NIMBYs continue to let their heartless prejudice against homeless folks dominate their thinking. It seems they would rather perpetuate the blight of homelessness in our community than work with us to solve it.

Compassionate neighbors, however, are among the principal supporters of the No Place To Go Project. They want to be part of the solution instead of the problem. Their activism last year and this year is why we even have an  alternative housing ordinance to consider.

Led by Supervisors Heidi Hall and Lisa Swarthout, the Board of Supervisors is actively seeking solutions to our housing crisis. The board’s ratification earlier this year of tiny homes on wheels and Title 25 (aka Schedule K) owner-built rural housing gave the county critical points in qualifying for a Prohousing Designation from the state.

With a Prohousing Designation, cities and counties that demonstrate “above and beyond” proactive efforts to create more housing become eligible to receive incentive funding from the state.

According to the state’s Housing and Community Development (HCD) website, Nevada County won a Prohousing Designation May 27 with an impressive and competitive score of 60 points. Placer County also won a Prohousing Designation but with a score of only 32 points.

Alicia Murillo, a communications specialist for HCD, confirmed to me that passage of the alternative housing ordinance could give Nevada County additional points in the intense funding competition. The catch, however, is that the ordinance must be passed in time to qualify for the next round of funding availability, which is “anticipated” to be announced this fall.

Come together

Whether NIMBYs believe it or not, we’re all in this together. The No Place To Go Project hopes we can bring all the stakeholders to the table to make Nevada County the best place to live, work and play for all residents.

Tom Durkin is the director of the No Place To Go Project . He can be contacted at www.noplacetogoproject.com or tom@noplacetogoproject.com.