COTS plans Petaluma shelter expansion

Petaluma’s most prominent homeless services provider, Committee on the Shelterless, is planning for its biggest expansion since COTS built the Mary Isaak Center homeless shelter in 2004.

The expansion effort is getting a boost from the city of Petaluma, and, in a sign of a growing regional problem, the Sonoma County Community Development Commission is playing a role.

COTS may be able to expand within its existing footprint or on adjacent city-owned land, said Chuck Fernandez, COTS CEO.

“Right now we have been in very early conversations with the county,” he said. “We’re looking at how we can integrate our plans to expand our campus while also look at what the county is trying to do and perhaps blend our plans.”

Fernandez said he envisions some sort of indoor/outdoor shelter that provides a place for homeless people to stay or camp and also access some of the many services that COTS provides. In addition to the 100-bed Mary Isaak Center, COTS serves 7,000 meals per month, helps clients find work and longterm housing, and provides healthcare through an on-site clinic.

Expansion could include a larger kitchen to feed more people, converting the third floor of the center into a women’s shelter, adding a new mental health wellness center or more permanent supportive housing, Fernandez said.

“COTS is working on campus expansion,” he said. “There’s a need for more homeless services. The demand is there and it is going to continue to grow.”

Fernandez said COTS will try and have the expansion plans in place by the end of the year and wouldn’t break ground for at least a year.

Petaluma is stepping in to help COTS as the city-owned land immediately adjacent to the Mark Isaak Center is undergoing a transformation. The city is seeking to expand the corporation yard on Hopper Street that was once a wastewater treatment plant, said City Manager Peggy Flynn.

As part of the expansion, Petaluma could provide land for COTS to grow, she said.

We’ve been meeting with COTS and we want to assist with their expansion,” she said. “We have the land. That is a resource that we can bring to the table.”

Decommissioned water tanks were recently removed from the site, making way for an expansion of the site that houses several city departments and the Petaluma Animal Shelter. Flynn said the nonprofit COTS serves an important function in Petaluma.

“The stronger COTS is, the stronger we are in responding to our unsheltered community,” she said. “This is a growing societal issue. We have to figure out how to handle this regionally so it’s not just moving over to the next city.”

Sonoma County recently invested $11.6 million to establish emergency shelters for homeless people living along the Joe Rodota Trail in Santa Rosa. The camp, which is infested with rats, has become a public health issue.

The Community Development Commission, the county agency that deals with homelessness and affordable housing last month negotiated with developer Basin Street for a piece of property next to the Mary Isaak Center, according to Supervisor David Rabbitt, although the discussion did not lead to a land deal.

Rabbitt, who represents Petaluma, said the city’s homeless problem is just as significant, if not as visible, as Santa Rosa’s.

“The last thing you want to do with homelessness is be complacent before you have it under control,” he said. “You need to be on top of it.”

Rabbitt said the county was a big supporter of COTS and is interested in helping the homeless service agency expand.

“We have a significant homeless issue in Petaluma. COTS is at capacity,” he said. “We’re going to be there and be supportive and find dollars. I think it’s an exciting time.”

Community Development Commission Executive Director Geoffrey Ross and Frank Marinello, vice president of real estate development for Basin Street had a discussion in December about a piece of land designated for multi-family housing in the Riverfront development, which Basin Street is developing next to the homeless shelter.

Marinello said the county was eying the property for affordable housing, but said discussions are no longer taking place.

“Basin Street is a big supporter of COTS. We always have been,” he said. “We have historically been a market rate developer. Given the high cost of construction today, we need to reevaluate the efficiencies of the project so we can make it work.”

(Contact Matt Brown at matt.brown@arguscourier.com.)