Letter to Matthew Hymel County Administrator

Dear Mr. Hymel:

I lead a neighborhood group opposed to allowing a homeless shelter for 40 men at St. Anselm elementary school's gymnasium for eight weeks this summer. St. Anselm School is located in an R1 residential neighborhood.

Location Is Not Legal
The town Ordinance is very clear that an “emergency shelter” is forbidden in an R1 residential neighborhood, and the town Ordinance and State Law are also very clear that an "emergency shelter" is defined as any shelter housing homeless for less than six months. The shelter planned by REST falls within the definition.  (San Anselmo Ordinance 1098, Municipal Code Title 10, Chapter 12, and Land Use Table 3A.) We have not found any exceptions written into the law.

Smoking Is Not Legal and Leaves Toxic Residue That Cannot Be Cleaned
We also learned by emails sent by REST, that REST will allow smoking. Change Labs Solutions: California Laws Affecting Smoking 2014 states that State and Federal laws forbid smoking in any private or public school and near any playground. Change Labs describes civil and criminal penalties.
The Mayo Clinic website describes that third-hand smoke is extremely toxic, especially to children, because it attaches to physical surroundings near the smoker and resists cleaning or removal.  See copies of REST emails that describe allowing smoking at the school at our blog: http://SanAnselmoR1HomelessShelter.blogspot.com/

Too Many Men and No Security
The town Ordinance limits emergency homeless shelters in San Anselmo commercial and public facilities areas to 17 homeless individuals, not 40. The Ordinance requires on-site security and on-site management, and REST does not plan to have any security.

The Town Attorney wrote a letter that did not mention the definition of "emergency shelter" contained in the Ordinance (any shelter housing homeless for less than six months), and he did not mention the amendment to the Land Use Table that forbids an "emergency shelter" in an R1 neighborhood. He did not address the smoking issue, the limit of 17 men, or the requirement that there be on-site security. He wrote that the elementary school can have an accessory use but our understanding is that the Ordinance that modified the Land Use Table 3A passed by the Town Council in January 2015 and the Ordinance itself usurps any property owner's right to an accessory use.

We are a group that believes that the needs of the homeless should be met, but not at the expense of the health of children, in violation of local or state law, and in violation of REST’s own policy that states that they would not put a homeless shelter in a residential neighborhood.

I am sending you this letter because I think the County is funding the REST project.

Thank you,

Marsha Hallet