Homeless Project Roils Liberal Bay Area Town

A San Francisco-area liberal town's proposal to transform a hotel into housing for the homeless has enraged residents, who are trying to block the project, the New York Post reported.

Millbrae, a town of some 23,000 with an average home price of $1.9 million located 15 miles south of San Francisco, is slated to approve the Project Homekey plan to turn a La Quinta hotel into a 99-unit apartment complex for unhoused people.

But Millbrae resident Ho Yeung voiced the concerns of many residents who showed up to a meeting to boo and shout down county officials, saying to NBC Bay Area that the proposed homeless residence is "very close to children, a block from three schools. So we don't want to see that."

Another resident held a sign that said, "Keep our children and seniors safe."

Residents said they are already disproportionately paying for the Bay Area's homeless problems compared to wealthier neighboring cities, the New York Post reported.

As in many places in California, homelessness has become an increasing problem in San Mateo County, where Millbrae is located, with the number of homeless people up 20% in the past few years, according to the San Mateo Daily Journal.

San Mateo County Executive Mike Callagy pleaded with residents at the meeting to give the project a chance, saying residents are "worried about crime, they're worried about assaults, they're worried about drugs and mental health impacting the neighborhoods. That has just not been our experience."

Paul Larson, who owns a funeral home across from the La Quinta hotel, told CBS News Bay Area that losing the La Quinta as a functioning hotel would hurt Millbrae even further, because currently visitors who stay at the hotel pay an occupancy tax that contributes about $600,000 per year to the city's coffers, he said.

"Having a way for the homeless or the people who need help to get out of that situation is good, but at the same time, you have to look at the surrounding community. What are their needs," Larson said. "Losing a hotel in Millbrae is like cutting off a finger."