Camp Resolution
Sunrise Movement Sacramento is firmly in defense of Camp Resolution's struggle to achieve safety and self determination.
This webpage lists public records and resources to try to provide clarity and ease of access to learn about the situation surrounding Camp Resolution.
The best source to listen to when it comes to a matter of environmental injustice such as this one is the lived experience of the people impacted, follow Camp Resolution on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/campresolution/
Updates in 2024:
August 24, 2024 - Press release by California Homeless Union: https://www.instagram.com/sacramento.homeless.union/p/C_D7bXdsXzo/?img_index=1
August 23, 2024 - Disability Rights CA letter to the City of Sacramento: https://www.instagram.com/sacramento.homeless.union/p/C_D7bXdsXzo/?img_index=2
May 6, 2024 - California Homeless Union legal letter to the City of Sacramento: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eZCtTADjhgnQpLCe81OrBHN0Mm-T4ms-/view
May 2, 2024 - Update and social media toolkit: https://docs.google.com/document/d/19uNCasEKkvCj6ZqgC0vJvtrW_sujy0W12gyh74UEfgM/edit?usp=sharing
April 29, 2024 - A letter submitted to the City of Sacramento in defense of Camp Resolution by one of our members: https://drive.google.com/file/d/14F_pbz_CsXqH1vSW1cjMO710TQ1IldNF/view?usp=sharing
Updates in 2022:
On November 15th, 2022, we joined a mobilization of community members who spoke out at a Sacramento City Council meeting and successfully prevented a planned "sweep" that would have forcibly removed everyone from Camp Resolution and destroyed their survival gear.
November 10, 2022 - A letter submitted to the City of Sacramento in defense of Camp Resolution by one of our members: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HnqDCB8jE5g9LKLbYGsgFOTh1m-pgl0y/view?usp=sharing
Note: This letter was submitted prior to a January 26, 2023 release of public records per our request, through which we first came across the September 28, 2011 Indoor Air Risk Assessment report
November 11, 2022 - Our call to action summarizing context from our letter in Defense of Camp Resolution: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ck1rHfOvgRW/
Quick facts
Camp Resolution is located on a site identified as the "Colfax Yard", at 2225 Colfax St, Sacramento, CA 95815
There are historic health and safety concerns associated with contamination and potential vapors from the soil at the site
Recent analysis (December 2021) detected no harmful presence of outdoor contaminants
The local Water Board approved the use of the site for people to live on as part of a 1 - 2 year "Safe Parking" program per the City of Sacramento's request, set to end on June 1, 2024, then extended until December 1, 2024
The City of Sacramento has a history of broken promises over the years to the residents of Camp Resolution and had a lease agreement involving Safe Ground Sacramento that commits to guaranteeing housing to the people who live there
Public Records Requests
[No records yet released] Public Records Act Request of the City of Sacramento filed on February 9, 2023: https://bit.ly/colfaxPRAaug24status
Public Records Act Request of the City of Sacramento, released on January 26, 2023: https://cityofsacramentoca.nextrequest.com/requests/22-3046
Key documents:
What does the data say about safety?
September 28, 2011 Indoor Air Risk Assessment report conducted by The Westmark Group on behalf of the City of Sacramento, submitted to the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Region: https://documents.geotracker.waterboards.ca.gov/esi/uploads/geo_report/4438053905/T0606700685.PDF
Finding: harmful levels of benzene, trichloroethene (TCE), and tetrachloroethene (PCE) could accumulate in indoor dwellings in direct contact with the ground surface
What this resulted in: This was the Water Board's rationale for not allowing the use of tents or residential structures in the variance (exemption that the Water Board gave to the City) to the Land Use Covenant
Simple TLDR: The Water Board does not want to allow tents or residential structures on the Colfax Yard site that have direct contact with the ground surface
December 7, 2021 Outdoor Air Assessment Report conducted by Stantec Consulting Services Inc. on behalf of the City of Sacramento, submitted to the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Region: https://drive.google.com/file/d/11cQluUc8mF7IRSSGF9qfo5RkW5tS3Vzg/view?usp=drive_link
Finding: Quote from Neil Doran, Principal Geologist of Stantec "Overall very good news; no detections of PCE/TCE or degradation products, and only low detections of benzene which appear to be background, unrelated to subsurface conditions."
This quote can be found in email communication between Neal of Stantec and Galvin Kauffman of the Water Board, including staff from the City, page 4 of these released public records: https://cityofsacramentoca.nextrequest.com/documents/13942482
What this resulted in: This provided sufficient evidence to the Water Board to permit the use of vehicles, which is what the City requested from the Water Board to allow for "safe parking" on the Colfax Yard site in an approved variance to a Land Use Covenant
Simple TLDR:
The Water Board has verified that it is safe for vehicles to be parked on the site and lived in
As of December 2021, no harmful chemicals were found on the site in concentrations that should be alarming
Benzene was the only chemical found, "background levels" means it's the amount you would expect to find anywhere in California, likely sourced from vehicles driving along Arden Way which is adjacent to the site.
What's been recently done to develop the land?
A portion of the Colfax Yard site was paved on behalf of the City of Sacramento for an expense of over $600,000 sometime after October 2021
We were able to find this set of improvement plans for parking paving by the City of Sacramento: https://cityofsacramentoca.nextrequest.com/documents/16406092
Information we don't have: the exact contract for paving the site, what scope of work exactly was done, who completed the work
October 14, 2021 "Colfax Yard Paving site plan" map by the City of Sacramento, aerial image of Colfax Yard prior to paving with a marked "area to be paved": https://drive.google.com/file/d/1elQBYO7FFZ82-OVzgLqaM7qVvKVXgMIM/view?usp=sharing
What agreements are currently in place?
There was recently a lease agreement between the City of Sacramento, Safe Ground Sacramento Inc., and Camp Resolution regarding use of the Colfax Yard site that was set to auto renew every "120 days or until all residents were placed in individual, permanent durable housing". The status of this lease may currently be legally contested.
May 31, 2024 Extension of Variance to Land Use Covenant: https://documents.geotracker.waterboards.ca.gov/regulators/deliverable_documents/6563306510/Colfax%20Yard%20LUC%20Variance%20Extension%2031May2024.pdf
What is this: The 2022 variance to the City's Land Use Covenant was set to expire on June 1, 2024 and the City was using this in May 2024 as an excuse to try to displace Camp Resolution. The Water Board granted a 6 month extension to the variance and requested that the City propose a new planned use for the site by September 1, 2024.
Simple TLDR: Camp Resolution or a safe parking program was clear by the Water Board to use the Colfax Yard site until December 1, 2024
January 13, 2022 Variance to Land Use Covenant: https://documents.geotracker.waterboards.ca.gov/regulators/deliverable_documents/4795743644/variance_colfax_yard_Final%20SIGNED.pdf
What is this: This variance acts as an exemption to the Land Use Covenant by providing evidence that there are not health and safety concerns associated with certain uses of the land that the City wanted to pursue, specifically allowing the City to utilize the site to host up to 50 vehicles for occupancy for a “Safe Parking” program. This variance is set to end on 1 June 2024 because the City of Sacramento only requested for a one- to two-year Safe Parking program.
Simple TLDR: It is both safe and approved by the Water Board to use the Colfax Yard site for people to live on in vehicles
June 15, 2017 Covenant and Agreement to Restrict Use of Property: https://documents.geotracker.waterboards.ca.gov/regulators/deliverable_documents/1824711680/15%20June%202017%20-%20Recorded%20LUC.pdf
What is this: There is a Land Use Covenant between the City of Sacramento and the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Region governing what the City is and isn't allowed to due on the land at the Colfax Yard site
Simple TLDR: Because there were health and safety concerns, the Water Board says the City can't use this land for residential uses