Quick Take
Monterey County officials have approved more than $1 million in funding to help finish construction of a 34-unit “tiny village” in Watsonville. The project is a joint effort between Santa Cruz and Monterey counties to address homelessness along the Pajaro River levee.
The Monterey County Board of Supervisors allocated more than $1 million in new funding for a 34-unit “tiny village” shelter intended to house people who lived along the Pajaro River levee, a project that has dragged on due to opposition from neighbors.
The additional funds will help finish building the upcoming shelter located in the parking lot of Westview Presbyterian Church in Watsonville.
Construction on the 34 pre-assembled structures (28 individual single-bed shelters, two double units, and four Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant units) began in late July, and is expected to wrap up in mid-November.
This latest funding comes from the Central California Alliance for Health, which gave Monterey County a $1.2 million housing fund award in September. The county will use $1,088,075 of that grant for tiny village construction, according to a Monterey County staff report. The rest of the money will be used to furnish the units.
The project was originally budgeted at $5,034,591, but extended permitting delays and additional requirements imposed by the City of Watsonville added costs, per the report. Those requirements included adding a fence surrounding the shelter and raising the living units 3 feet above the ground.
The project was delayed multiple times after residents expressed concerns over “homelessness-related” crime in the neighborhood around the church. Neighbor Catalina Torres also filed two appeals, to both the Watsonville’s planning commission and city council, in an effort to block the project. Both were denied.
Crews have already installed the 34 living units, and need to add fencing around the perimeter, restripe the church’s parking lot and build the storage and kitchen area, Monterey County’s homelessness services director, Roxanne Wilson, told Lookout last month.
Elected officials from Santa Cruz and Monterey counties got a first look at the tiny village in September with the project developer, San Francisco-based nonprofit Dignity Moves. The village is expected to open its doors in December, according to Wilson.
The tiny village is designed to address the high number of unhoused residents on the Pajaro River levee along the Santa Cruz-Monterey county border, many of whom have been displaced due to encampment sweeps. Its main funding source is an $8 million state grant set to expire next year.
First proposed in 2023, the project will house up to 36 people. Residents will also have access to a laundry room, four shared bathrooms and a small kitchen — all on the Westview Presbyterian Church property.
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