County considering San Mateo motels purchase

The county wants to purchase The Catrina Hotel at 2110 S. El Camino Real and the Stone Villa Inn at 2175 S. El Camino Real. The Catrina Hotel is 57 units, and the Stone Villa Inn is 44 units. The motels would be emergency homeless shelters in a noncongregate setting, but an agreement has yet to be reached, San Mateo County spokeswoman Michelle Durand said.

If the sale proceeds, the county will host a community meeting on its plan for the properties’ short- and long-term use. The county would also enter into a memorandum of understanding with the city to clarify the county’s role and responsibility for the services it provides.

The county has made it a priority to end homelessness and reach a functional zero level, meaning any homeless person in the county who wants to can be housed. The 2019 homeless count in the county was 1,512. While the county tries to get homeless people permanent housing, it usually starts with diversion and emergency shelter beds and units, Callagy said. The county’s primary goal is to get people in housing before anything else because of the challenges to change lives without shelter.

“You can’t get them employed. You can’t have enough money to save for rent. You can’t really address the health needs and challenges they have and the lifestyle issues that they have,” Callagy said.

Callagy said it was hard to determine how long each temporary stay would last in the motel units, but the county is committed to helping people find permanent housing.

“We really want to try and give them the resources and the wraparound services necessary to get onto the next step and find permanent housing,” said Callagy.

The county wants to one day end its use of motels as shelters and convert them to permanent housing. The county has recently turned several motels into homeless shelters, including the December purchase of the Half Moon Bay Coastside Inn at 230 Cabrillo Highway and two hotels in Redwood City, the TownePlace Suites Hotel in Redwood Shores and the Pacific Inn along El Camino Real.

“Our long-term goal is to end homelessness in this county and convert these into individual motels into low-income housing,” Callagy said.

There would be conditions and rules for living at the site, and it would have an on-site 24-hour presence by management representatives.

“There are all kinds of rules that have to be followed. This is a place that we want to blend in with the community. We want them to shop locally, use the local transportation. These two particular hotels have great amenities around it,” Callagy said.

Supervisor Carole Groom said county services at the motels would provide mental and physical health services, computer skills and meals.

“We think we’ve got a program that’s workable. The idea, of course, is to get them out of these and into more permanent housing, which we are prepared to do,” Groom said.

Groom said the county is committed to solving the homelessness problem and treating people with dignity and respect through a motel program that provides more privacy than a shelter. The county will work with the city of San Mateo to provide reassurances and answers through town hall meetings.

“We will do town halls. We will come and meet with all the residents and talk about this and talk about the successes we have had in our other locations and hopefully be partners and hopefully reduce homelessness and get people prepared to move on,” Groom said.

The San Mateo City Council at its March 15 meeting unanimously supported the purchase after hearing a county presentation on the topic. The council cited the help it provides the homeless and the potential for addressing future housing needs.

“I think the services that the county is prepared to throw into this mix is what really will have a positive and lasting change on those that are housed at these sites. So let’s see what we can do. We will wait for the appraisals,” Councilwoman Diane Papan said.

San Mateo Mayor Eric Rodriguez supported the purchase and was confident that the county would work with the public on any issues.

“This isn’t some sort of done deal where everything is all sorted out. I think you are partnering with the community, and I am very convinced that you are going to work very closely with us to ensure that all the questions are answered, and all the concerns are addressed,” Rodriguez said.

curtis@smdailyjournal.com

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