Merrydale Road Tiny Cabin Project Divides San Rafael Neighbors

A plan to place roughly 65 lockable tiny cabins in a city parking lot along Merrydale Road prompted a heated public meeting on Jan. 16, highlighting a split between neighbors and officials over safety, oversight, and the role of policing in temporary shelter. The interim program, funded in part by Marin County, would move up to 70 residents from a sanctioned downtown camping site into individually lockable units with shared kitchen and laundry facilities, on-site case management, and security.

City and county staff outlined the project as a harm-reduction pathway from street homelessness to permanent housing, noting the cabins are intended as a stopgap until more conventional affordable housing becomes available. Estimated unit costs were presented in the $15,000 to $30,000 range. Officials said the site would be staffed 24/7 and include rules of conduct to address neighborhood concerns, and that the temporary program is planned to close by mid-2029 when permanent housing is expected to come online.

Neighbors at the meeting raised multiple practical concerns that will matter for people who live nearby and anyone considering similar tiny-home interventions. Safety worries included potential increases in loitering and visible drug use, impacts on public space, and the adequacy of supervision during overnight hours. Residents pressed for clarity on oversight - who enforces rules, how complaints will be tracked, what constitutes grounds for removal, and how coordination with local police will work.

For the homeless service community and tiny housing advocates, the project illustrates familiar tradeoffs: lockable cabins can offer privacy and stability missing in encampments, but temporary sites concentrate complex needs and require robust case management and clear exit routes into permanent housing. Shared facilities reduce per-unit cost but raise questions about sanitation and communal safety that neighbors flagged.

Practical takeaways for residents and prospective program participants include the program capacity of about 70 people, the presence of shared kitchen and laundry, the promise of 24/7 staffing, and the mid-2029 closure timeline tied to planned affordable housing. Funding comes in part from Marin County, which adds a regional accountability layer to city oversight.

As implementation moves forward, the immediate questions are operational: how rules of conduct will be enforced, how security and case management will coordinate with police and health services, and whether the planned timeline to mid-2029 will hold. For neighbors, the story is about managing small footprints with big impacts; for people seeking shelter, it is about whether tiny cabins will offer a real step toward stable housing.