‘Frustrating and disappointing’: Businesses fed up with Rohnert Park’s response to sanctioned homeless camp

Rohnert Park has agreed to beef up police presence around a sanctioned homeless camp near Highway 101 but left other proposed efforts to mitigate theft and vandalism at the nearby commercial plaza largely up to the businesses.

Several business owners at Rogers Plaza and the adjacent commercial property said they’re fed up with what they see as inaction on the city’s part to address the camp in the fenced-off commuter parking lot on Roberts Lake Road across the street.

Rich Henderson, a commercial property manager who manages the three buildings behind the plaza, said the city allowed unhoused residents to camp at the site and should be responsible for helping businesses struggling with crime as a result.

“It’s frustrating and disappointing,” Henderson said of the council’s decision. “Here’s a problem that the city had some role in creating, staff and public safety took a tremendous amount of time to offer a plan and they just said, ‘Nah, it’s somebody else’s problem, not ours.’”

The Rohnert Park City Council on Tuesday directed staff to look at creating a satellite Department of Public Safety office at Rogers Plaza to increase police oversight around the camp and more broadly improve response times in the northern part of the city.

The camp, which has grown to about 100 tents since city officials first allowed unhoused residents to set up camp there in February, is believed to be the largest camp in Sonoma County.

The city provides trash pickup, portable toilets and hand-washing stations, which are paid for through its existing contract with waste hauler Recology, and spends about $6,000 to $8,000 a month to remove hazardous material from the encampment once a week.

But the council opted against funding upgrades at the plaza, such as installing security cameras, dumpster locks and locks to prevent people from connecting to outdoor electrical outlets and water spouts. Those steps were recommended by staff as interim measures while the city establishes the new police office.

The council also didn’t support hiring a daytime security guard to patrol the plaza or full-time security at the camp, which was estimated to cost up to $2 million.

The council’s stance frustrated plaza business owners. At least one has hinted at taking legal action against the city to force it to address concerns.

Cully Williamson, owner of Mary’s Pizza Shack in Rohnert Park, which opened 30 years ago at Rogers Plaza, said camp residents have vandalized his business, harassed customers sitting on the patio and made his employees feel uncomfortable.

On a few occasions people have come into the restaurant, ordered food, sat down to eat and then were unable to pay the bill at the end of the meal, he said.

“It’s almost a 12-hour a day job just keeping an eye on the homeless that walk through the property and around the building,” he said. “I’m trying to run my restaurant, and that’s challenging as it is, without having to police this problem. It’s just not a pleasant experience.”

But council members said spending public dollars to address issues at a private business would set a precedent where the city would have to do the same for other businesses needing assistance.

Council member Susan Hollingsworth-Adams, whose family operates an insurance business in the plaza, didn’t participate in the discussion citing a conflict of interest.

“If we set a precedent of taking care of (private) buildings that is going to be a problem for the future because other businesses are also affected and they will come to us and say, ‘Well, you helped them, why aren’t you helping us?’” Mayor Jackie Elward said. “That is for the owner to take care of.”

What is the city doing?

The council agreed to set aside $30,000 in overtime for police officers to provide additional patrols in the area.

The city has directed police officers with its Community-Oriented Problem Solving team, or COPS team, to dedicate half their time to homeless-related issues, with a focus on the Roberts Lake Road area, and the increased overtime budget will help fill staffing gaps until the COPS team is fully staffed.

The city will install a more durable fence between the north end of Rogers Plaza and Roberts Lake Park that is expected to cost $50,000.

Staff will begin working on a plan to open a public safety office at the plaza and return to council with additional details at a future meeting. Renting a suite at the plaza is estimated to cost $16,000 annually but the city will have to hire a sergeant to oversee the office, which would cost about $233,000 in salary and benefits.

The council largely favored this recommendation because it would benefit the wider community, members said.

Elward and the council encouraged businesses to look at making other improvements themselves and coming together to hire a security guard to provide day-time patrols. City staff estimated upgrades to the plaza would cost about $120,000.

Business owners frustrated, want more help

Henderson, the property manager, said the property owner and tenants have spent thousands of dollars in the last year to install locks on the electrical outlets, fix broken windows and to install doorbell cameras.

Some tenants are considering not renewing their lease and it has been hard to lease vacant suites, he said.

Henderson said tenants were encouraged by staff’s recommendations but disappointed that the council didn’t support most of the measures. Making upgrades to the building would have eased concerns in the short-term and shown businesses the city is listening and willing to work with them, he said.

“It’s disheartening to feel like something that seemed so commonsense apparently wasn’t,” he said.

Henderson understands elected officials are wary of setting a precedent but the city should have an obligation to provide assistance because they approved the camp, he said.

“I don’t want to say it’s a problem that they created but it’s a problem tied to that specific location, not a citywide systemic issue. It’s a localized issue related to a camp that the city has sponsored,” he said. “You would think they want to help those businesses.”

From Jan. 1 through May 31, police received 146 calls about the camp, including four calls for potential assaults and seven for possible burglaries or thefts, according to police data. Officers also made contact with people around the camp while on patrol on more than 300 occasions in the first five months of the year.

That resulted in 48 arrests and 136 citations issued so far this year. There have been 10 arrests at Rogers Plaza alone, according to police data.

Williamson, the Mary’s Pizza Shack owner, said he’s called city staff, sent numerous emails and even addressed the City Council during a meeting, but up until this point he felt his complaints had largely been ignored. The council’s decision Tuesday did little to reassure him that the city is going to address complaints.

Having increased police presence at the plaza could help, but Williamson said the city needs to take a more proactive role to address vandalism and theft. He didn’t plan to pay for upgrades at his business and felt it was unfair the city had asked businesses to take on that burden.

Richard Norgrove, owner of Bear Republic Brewing, which opened at the plaza about six years ago, was more skeptical that increased police presence would make a difference. Police have done a “fair job” of addressing calls for service but it hasn’t deterred crime, he said.

Norgrove and Williamson said while they’re sympathetic to the issue and understand there’s no one solution to solving homelessness, they would like to see the camp disbanded or relocated. They also want to see more assistance from the state come down to local government to create housing and shelters.

Rohnert Park sees the encampment as a temporary refuge for some of the city’s estimated 250 homeless residents while the city works toward creating permanent solutions, including a 60-unit supportive housing facility that broke ground this month. But there is no timeline for shutting down the camp.

Norgrove said if he doesn’t see an improvement or commitment from the city to fix the issue he is considering legal alternatives as a last resort. Property owners in north Sacramento sued the city in September, alleging the city violated their civil rights by failing to address concerns related to unsheltered residents who have set up tents near the property, according to the Sacramento Business Journal.

“That’s not what I want to do,” he said but he added he’s fed up.

You can reach Staff Writer Paulina Pineda at 707-521-5268 or paulina.pineda@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @paulinapineda22.