Council panel to receive update on pilot project for overnight sleeping in cars

The Maui County Council’s Water Authority, Social Services and Parks Committee will receive an update Tuesday morning on the status of a Maui County pilot project to allow people to sleep in their cars in county-owned public parking lots.

According to the meeting agenda, panel members will receive an update on the initiative from representatives of the Mayor’s Office and the Department of Human Concerns. The committee is scheduled to hear from Sasha Brown, a homeless services program specialist from the City of Santa Rosa, California. That city has a Safe Parking Program, which opened in March 2022. The city program has authorized funding through June of this year.

The program sets aside 52 parking spaces for adults experiencing homelessness. The area is a place for them “to safely park their vehicle or RV with access to basic services, such as food, sanitation and shower facilities, as well as wrap-around services to help end participants’ homelessness in alignment with the City’s Homelessness Solutions Strategic Plan,” according to the program’s website.

A two-year report on the program shows that the program has helped reduce vehicle encampments and homelessness in Santa Rosa, with 193 residents participating in its first two years. Of those, 22 have moved into temporary housing, and 44 into permanent housing.

“The City plans to build on the success of the program to help more participants gain housing during its third year of operations,” the report says.

The committee meeting starts at 9 a.m. Tuesday and can be viewed on Akakū Maui Community Media on cable Channel 53 or via Teams at http://tinyurl.com/WASSP-Committee. In-person testimony and meeting attendance is in the Council Chambers on the eighth floor of the Kalana O Maui Building in Wailuku.

Written testimony is accepted via eComment. (Search for the meeting date on mauicounty.us/agendas, click on the eComment link, then select the agenda item to submit comments on.)

Written testimony may also be submitted via email to WASSP.committee@mauicounty.us or postal service to WASSP Committee, Maui County Council, 200 S. High St., Wailuku 96793.

To testify by phone, dial 1-808-977-4067 and enter meeting code 581 507 566#.

For more information on testifying, visit www.mauicounty.us/testify or contact the Office of Council Services at 808-270-7838.