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Project Hope Will Shelter 20 Homeless: SAN PABLO: The City Council Addresses Traffic and a Six-Month Moratorium on Massage Parlor Permits

Posted on: Wednesday, 21 June 2006, 09:00 CDT

By Tom Lochner, Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, Calif.

Jun. 21--Homelessness, traffic, massage parlors and demolition of a run-down house were topics on a busy agenda at a San Pablo City Council meeting Monday.

-- The council allocated $30,000 to Project Hope, a Contra Costa County-run program for homeless people, to provide shelter for 15 to 20 regulars who hang out at Kennedy Plaza.

The money would fund 20 beds for a stay of 120 days each at the West County shelter in Richmond.

Cynthia Belon, homeless program director for the county Health Services Department, said her Project Hope team identified 15 people at Kennedy Plaza who would prefer to be off the streets if they could get shelter and other services that might lead to employment and permanent housing.

She estimated there are 330 "chronically homeless" people in San Pablo out of about 5,500 in the county.

-- Many traffic impacts of new housing subdivisions along Giant Highway will be offset by a drop in the number of trucks resulting from the elimination of industrial businesses, Public Works Director Adele Ho said during a study session. But several safety issues, such as the danger of left turns from subdivisions onto fast-moving Giant Road, need to be addressed, she said. She recommended a traffic study.

Light industrial projects proposed in Richmond across the nearby city line could back up onto San Pablo's Giant Highway, especially if trains block grade crossings, Ho said.

The city line runs along the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad tracks, which are parallel to the west side of Giant Highway.

The two cities recently entered into an agreement to build a "central railroad crossing" at Giant Highway at Morton Avenue and eliminate crossings at Giant and John avenues and at Collins Avenue and Griffin Drive

-- The council, via an urgency ordinance, extended for six months a moratorium on permits for massage establishments and escort services. A city staff report noted the city code does not regulate such establishments, and warned they are often fronts for prostitution.

A permanent ordinance will be the subject of a City Council study session within a month, according to the report.

-- The council ordered the demolition of a house on the 5000 block of Glenn Avenue as a public nuisance. Building inspectors registered a litany of violations over 21/2 years including foundation damage, water damage, electrical problems and piles of debris taller than an adult human, according to a report and slide presentation by Officer Matt McClaflin. Building Inspector John Crabtree said rats on the premises sparked the initial alert.

The owners have done next to nothing to abate the problem and now it's time to tear down the house, officials said.

The owners all but acquiesced after briefly pleading family medical problems. They can put the property up for sale but a new owner would still have to tear down the house, which is uninhabitable, officials said. If the city tears down the building, demolition costs and other costs will be covered by liens on the property, officials said.

-- The council adopted an ordinance that closes all city parks from dusk to dawn. The rule previously applied only to Davis Park. The action was prompted by nighttime criminal activities in other parks, including drug dealing, assaults and even shootings, according to a staff report.

Reach Tom Lochner at 510-262-2760 or tlochner@cctimes.com.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, Calif.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, Calif.)

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