UPDATE: April 22, 2025

In February 2025, the Novato City Council unanimously approved the permanent closure of the Temporary Camp at Lee Gerner Park and provided direction for site cleanup and restoration to return the park to community recreational use.

As part of the closure process, the City delayed enforcement by 60 days to provide remaining campers time to secure housing or shelter accommodations, and official notices were posted at the park. During this period, the City collaborated closely with local service providers to support the remaining campers — including the newly launched SAFE Team, which was regularly onsite, engaging with campers and offering support services related to homelessness, as well as mental health and substance use.  This mobile response team continues to provide a comprehensive and compassionate approach, actively engaging with community members throughout Novato. 

All remaining campers voluntarily vacated Lee Gerner Park prior to the conclusion of the 60-day delayed enforcement period, which expired on April 19, 2025. With the site now vacant, cleanup and remediation efforts are underway to address damage at the former temporary camp site, including areas impacted by a fire in Summer 2024. The City will soon begin community outreach to gather feedback on the future of Lee Gerner Park as plans to restore the area for recreational use move forward. 

Support services for Novato’s unhoused community will continue through a strong network of local partner organizations, helping individuals find pathways out of homelessness. The City extends a sincere thanks to our community partners and dedicated City staff who have supported this effort. 

Since 2022, the City operated the Temporary Camp under a court-ordered Settlement Agreement between the City and the Marin County Homeless Union. That agreement expired on October 13, 2024, and its expiration was later reinforced by a federal court determination in January 2025. Approximately twenty-four campers were connected to services, shelter or reconnected with family over the operation of the camp with the help of the community partners and City staff. 

Update: December 2024

In a continued effort to address homelessness and enhance public safety, the Novato City Council amended its ordinance relating to unlawful camping on December 9, 2024. Novato’s Municipal Code already prohibited unlawful camping with limited exceptions.

The City’s approach for implementation remains similar to prior practice: 

• Offering services and issuing warnings before enforcement is considered;
• Prioritizing contact with individuals at risk of harming themselves, others or the environment; and
• Ensuring compliance with existing court orders allowing current campers remain in place at Lee Gerner Park.

On December 10, 2024, an interested person filed a lawsuit challenging the City Council’s action and alleging the City did not comply with open meeting laws or demonstrate an urgent need for the amendment. On December 18, 2024, the Marin Superior Court considered a Temporary Restraining Order to prevent the ordinance from taking effect. 

The Court denied the request, meaning the ordinance remains in effect as adopted by the City Council. The Court found it was unlikely the case would succeed on the merits at trial and the requirement of immediate danger or irreparable harm was not met.

The City of Novato remains committed to partnering with local organizations to provide those experiencing homelessness access to support services and resources while ensuring our shared public spaces remain accessible and safe for everyone who calls Novato home.

Request for Dismissal (12/26/2024)

It is not a crime to be homeless. Click "Submit a Request" to submit non-emergency quality of life/homeless concerns directly to the appropriate City department using our online service request tool. Topics may include:

• Abandoned trash, debris, or litter
• Encampment on public property
• Encampment on private property
• Request for support services

Service requests are not monitored 24/7. For emergencies, please dial 9-1-1.

Many of our community members have asked how they can help the homeless in Novato.

You can donate to local non-profits in Marin County that are on the frontlines helping the homeless in our community. We do not recommend that our community members donate directly to encampments or hand cash to panhandlers. There are organizations who accept donations and distribute resources to those in need.

Homeward Bound of Marin
St. Vincent De Paul
Ritter Center
Adopt a Family Marin
Gilead House
Ambassadors of Hope and Opportunity
Downtown Streets Team
North Marin Community Services

According to the Marin County 2024 Homelessness Point-in-Time Count & Report, 62% of people currently experiencing homelessness in Marin report living in Marin prior to losing their housing. Across the nine Bay Area counties, 70-85% of people experiencing homelessness in a given county also lost their housing in that county. Homelessness is a local issue. 

Novato uses the Housing First model and works with the Marin County Department of Health and Human Services, the CARE Team, the Homeless Outreach Team (HOT), the Downtown Streets Team and other local resources such as the City of Novato Public Works Department to provide services to those experiencing homelessness.

People become homeless for a wide variety of reasons, yet every person experiencing homelessness has one thing in common: they lack housing. Despite this somewhat obvious fact, providing housing is sometimes the last issue communities prioritize.  Instead, people experiencing homelessness often hear, “We can provide housing for you, but …

• You need to get sober first.”
• You need to get a job first.”
• You need to take medication first.”
• You need to progress through x, y and z programs first.”

Housing First turns this strategy on its head. People are placed directly into housing as the first intervention, and then social workers help people address all the other issues that might have led to that person’s homelessness in the first place.

Between the 2022 and 2024 PIT Counts, Marin housed 280 of the most vulnerable chronically homeless residents of Marin in supportive housing, with more than 700 housed since 2017. The number of families experiencing homelessness decreased 12% from 2022, with the percentage of unsheltered families decreasing from 41% in 2022 to 34% in 2024. 

For the vast majority of people who become homeless, it is a brief, one-time experience that usually resolves itself in a matter of weeks or month.

Chronic homelessness is long-term homelessness that is accompanied by a disability (e.g. mental illness, physical disability, traumatic brain injury, substance abuse disorder).

Most people experiencing homelessness in Marin cite an economic reason for their homelessness. However, 20% report experiencing mental health challenges. Sadly, the mental health system in this country has been severely eroded over the last few decades and new laws make it harder to provide services for people who are extremely sick and refuse help.

The Novato Police Department works in partnership with the Marin Mobile Crisis Response Team when responding to mental health emergencies.

This allows the person in crisis to be assessed in the field and directed to the most appropriate resources thus reducing law enforcement's involvement in mental health calls and keeping these individuals out of the criminal justice system.

Unsheltered homelessness, in the form of encampments, has emerged as a top community concern. According to the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, encampments have connotations of both impermanence and continuity. They:

• May be a core group of people who are known to one another and who move together to different locations when necessary.
• May be a changing group of people who cycle in and out of a single location.
• May be comprised of tents or lean-to shacks built with scavenged materials.
• May be people living in groups of cars, RVs, or other vehicles.

During Marin's most recent point-in-time count of the homeless community (January 2019), community volunteers identified 708 people experiencing unsheltered homelessness, but this does not mean that all 708 people were in encampments.

Encampments, like chronic homelessness to homelessness overall, make up a small minority of the overall unsheltered community, yet they have a highly disproportionate impact.

Location breakdown of Marin's homeless community during January 2019 point-in-time counts