Redmond will begin allowing micro-shelters at safe parking sites within the city, offering another shelter option for individuals taking part in the program. The City Council unanimously approved the amendment to its code on Jan. 28 following an overwhelmingly favorable public hearing.
Mountain View Community Development (MVCD), the nonprofit that operates Redmond’s safe parking program, will start with a total of eight structures at a select number of private sites.
MVCD initially requested this amendment on Nov. 26 to help expand options within its safe parking program. The current program allows businesses with open parking spots to allow for a certain number of individuals to live in an RV or vehicle. This recent decision will allow these sites to offer small structures in available spots, in addition to RVs and vehicles, to shelter more individuals.
According to Rick Russell, director of MVCD, a large population — those who don’t have a vehicle or have a failing or immoveable RV — would benefit from the addition of this type of shelter. The micro-shelters, or pods, are typically the size of a garden shed and can fit roughly two people. They come with a bed, storage and electricity, as well as heating and cooling. The units do not include plumbing.
With the City’s approval, it enacted size limits on structures, made clarifications about open flames and set a maximum of four shelters at a single site. The amendment also noted that the allowance of these shelters will be a pilot program through May 2026. To extend this decision past that date, the City Council will need to act before then to extend the amendment or make it a permanent part of City code.
Redmond’s Safe Parking Program currently operates at eight locations, with a total of 33 spaces. The program served 134 people last year and helped 45 people transition into permanent housing, according to Russell. In the 2023/24 school year, it served 41 minors. The nonprofit is working on two additional sites in the city and is currently expanding operations to Bend.
The City of Redmond will not be funding these structures, as there are funds available from the state to purchase and site these units. The funding will only be available through June 30. Russell spoke to Redmond City Councilors on Jan. 6 during a council work session and urged them to take advantage of the limited funding available for micro-shelters.
“We really appreciate the City’s support responding to the need in our community. They see how Safe Parking has delivered a lot of people out of homelessness, and this new project has the potential to help even more people,” Russell wrote in a press release. “The exciting thing about micro-shelters is where they’ve been used, people are moving into housing more quickly than they do when they’re living in RVs. And they provide an opportunity for people who want to leave unauthorized camps but don’t have a working vehicle.”
This article appears in The Source Weekly February 6, 2025.
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