Nevada County removes Truckee address from Homekey Plus application after community outcry; board pauses East County project search

The Nevada County Board of Supervisors voted Feb. 11 to remove a specific Truckee address from the county’s Homekey Plus grant application and to proceed with a grant application that is agnostic about an Eastern County site, after widespread public comment and discussion about outreach and service readiness.

Board Chair Heidi Hall said staff would keep the “total dollar amount so that we do have the flexibility to go forward with another project,” and later moved the motion to approve the item with a condition limiting further East County project searches. Health and Human Services Director Ryan Groover told the board that staff had pursued Homekey because of a documented gap in Truckee’s homeless services, but that time pressures tied to grant rounds had constrained the county’s ability to do methodical community outreach.

Why it matters: Homekey and the related Proposition 1 funds are one-time opportunities to convert properties to interim or permanent housing quickly; the county sought to use the program to close a service gap in Truckee but drew protests from neighbors who said outreach was inadequate.

What the board decided and why: Supervisor Hardy Bullock said the county removed the Sierra Drive address and made the application site-agnostic so the county could “apply before having site control” under the state’s more flexible round of Homekey. Bullock also told the board, “We are not pursuing a project in Truckee at this time,” citing community opposition and staff concerns about the readiness of local supports.

Staff and behavioral health officials described available services in Truckee and why they were reluctant to place clients in the proposed property without stronger supports. Ryan Groover said Truckee currently has “almost no homeless services, no permanent location for shelter and no permanent supportive housing,” and that previous grant rounds had required site control before application. Phoebe Bell, Behavioral Health Director, added that recent community scrutiny made her “increasingly concerned for the well-being of our clients that would perhaps be placed in a house like this.”

Public comment was strongly divided. Dozens of Truckee-area residents told the board they felt blindsided by outreach and disagreed that a six-bed scattered-site conversion belonged in a residential neighborhood, while advocates and service providers said regional collaboration and new housing resources were urgently needed. Mary Brillio, a Truckee resident, told the board she had been given conflicting information about when occupants would move in and called the county’s outreach “egregious.” In contrast, Christina Kind of the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation called for “regional collaboration, compassion, and housing” and said local nonprofit partners have been working on a roadmap of strategies for 18 months.

The motion and vote: Chair Heidi Hall moved to approve the amended Homekey application language and condition staff resources; a second was provided. The clerk recorded the vote as four yes votes and one absence (District 4 absent). The board’s action keeps the county’s grant allocation intact while removing the Truckee site and asks staff to refrain from pursuing additional East County projects related to homelessness at this time.

What’s next: The county will keep the Homekey funding amount available and may repurpose it to other Western Nevada County properties listed in the application or to a future site if conditions and community support permit. Staff told the board they will continue partnership work with local jurisdictions and community-based organizations to identify viable project locations and supportive services.

Ending: The board’s decision reflected a mix of procedural constraints tied to grant timing, concerns from Truckee neighbors about outreach and siting, and staff caution about client wellbeing and available supportive services. The county left open the option of using the Homekey dollars elsewhere in the county rather than pursuing the disputed Truckee address.