County Leaders Provide More Details About Camp Hope Closure

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Sonora, CA– Some additional information is being relayed about plans to shut down the Camp Hope homeless camp that is located on private property off Stockton Road along the outskirts of Sonora.

Tuolumne County Community Development Director Quincy Yaley and Homeless Prevention Coordinator Kellae Brown gave an update during the staff comment period at the beginning of today’s board of supervisors meeting.

Yaley says, “Camp Hope was historically used as a municipal dump-site for the Sonora area, and municipal waste was brought to the site and burned, and therefore the property contains burnt ash which can contain hazardous materials. Additionally, camping is not allowed on that property (via zoning). Construction of non-permitted structures has also resulted in several violations of our ordinance code.”

Yaley added that there is an accumulation of garbage, human waste, hazardous materials, tires, and abandoned vehicles.

Those living at the camp have 90 days to relocate, and the county will be providing services to assist in the relocation. The site has been used as a camp for several years after receiving the verbal ok of the owners, the Rotelli family. The non-profit group Give Someone a Chance had been working to coordinate additional amenities and services at the site.

Brown stated that a team responded yesterday from the community development department, behavioral health department, the non-profit Resiliency Village, and drug and alcohol support.

Brown says, “We did make contact with about 36 people and all were very welcoming and kind to us. It was wonderful to connect with them and to hear a little bit about what their needs were. We are currently assessing individual case plans with each person to make sure that we provide the appropriate service to each person and relocation plans for each person.”

Brown concluded by stating, “We were actually able to assist one gentleman to go to the hospital yesterday with a broken hand. That felt really good, and we were there for about 3-4 hours. We will continue to do this work over the next few weeks.”

To view the initial story yesterday about the mandated closure of Camp Home, click here.