To

The Mayor,

City of Fremont

cc: City Council

Dear Mayor,

This petition is in context of the Navigation Center Project at the Niles Discovery Church [1] that the City of Fremont has applied for [2].

I admire the City of Fremont and the Niles Discovery Church for conceiving this project which attempts to improve the lives of the homeless people.

At the same time, I am deeply concerned about the location of the project. A few reasons for my concern are outlined below.

Traffic

With the California Nursery Historic Park at one end, the Nursery Ave is a short, narrow road that connects the busy Alvarado Niles Blvd to the even busier California State Route CA-238 (Mission Blvd). By length, the stretch is merely about 350 ft. There are two lanes, lots of potholes, and an incomplete sidewalk. Within that short stretch, there is a railroad crossing where multiple trains pass every day. It is a very important connector road, and as of today, it is a serious traffic choke point. It is not uncommon to experience a long delay in the Alvarado Niles Blvd (both eastbound and westbound) waiting to turn into Nursery Blvd and reach the Mission Blvd -- a one-minute drive becomes a fifteen-minute struggle.

This is the current situation while the Alvarado Niles Blvd has a separate left-turn and right-turn lane towards Nursery Blvd. This is also in absence of any incoming or outgoing traffic to the proposed location or the Niles Discovery Church parking lot.

The 45 residents in the center along with the staff, the supplies, the utilities would certainly increase the incoming and outgoing traffic in the location and worsen the traffic condition.

A natural follow up question is where will all these new vehicles be parked? While the Niles Discovery Church is expected to be compensated by the city about $40K per year [3], the proposal does not include using the Church’s parking lot. Instead, the proposal suggests street parking on either side of the Alvarado Niles Blvd [1] (marked as yellow in the diagram):

“Planning has has been told to not take any parking spaces in the main parking lot. One option is to use the street parking on the other side of the street at the California Nursery. Street parking can also be added in front of the church. ”

The street parking would make the Alvarado Niles Blvd narrower and slower. Together with the narrow Nursery Ave, this is surely going to make the traffic condition in the area significantly much worse. In case of emergency, the narrow roads could make it difficult for emergency vehicles.

Mental Health Safety

Few of the concerns noted in the Niles Discovery Church’s summary [3] are the following:

"What are the mental health services are you going to provide? What other services? What is the target population? What screening are you going to do? Is this transitional or just trying to get people off the streets? Is this part of a larger program?"

The response noted to the questions (copied below) is not satisfactory.

"Bay Area Community Services (BACS) is being considered for the processing of the residents. Residents will be allowed to live in the center for up to 6 months, while case workers help them to find permanent housing. Similar programs have been very effective, meeting or exceeding expectations."

The proposed center is right next to the rail track where multiple trains pass through every day.

It will be extremely regretful if the poor mental health condition causes an accident to a center resident or a neighbor.

Residential Area and Schools

In all the directions there are roads from the location (east, west, north), there are residential areas within a few hundred feet. There are families with children.

The Niles Elementary School -- that enrolls several hundred students from the neighborhood -- is less than half a mile away. Many students walk to school and walk home along the Alvarado Niles Blvd past the proposed location of the navigation center.

Another school, Learn and Play Montessori School, is also about half a mile away right on Alvarado Niles Blvd.

It is envisioned that the proposed center would cause a severe disturbance in the lives of the families. The safety and security is a serious concern.

Dear Mayor, while I admire the support the attempt to help the homeless population, I am deeply concerned with the proposed location of the center and the concerns listed above are just a selected few from dozens of other concerns. I request you to listen to the residents, hear all the concerns, follow the due process, and re-evaluate this project.

Thanking you. Sincerely,

References:

 1 . Niles Discovery Church Housing Navigation Center Project https://www.nilesdiscoverychurch.org/ndc.php?page=Navigation_Center accessed April 27 2019

2. Homeless Emergency Aid Program (HEAP) by the City of Fremont https://www.nilesdiscoverychurch.org/Ministries/Navigation_Center/assets/Fremont_HEAP_Application.pdf accessed April 27 2019

3. Niles Discovery Church Housing Navigation Center Project -- Concerns https://www.nilesdiscoverychurch.org/ndc.php?page=Navigation_Center accessed April 28 2019