The City of Paso Robles is building a temporary tent camp to accommodate transients now living in the Salinas riverbed. Last week, several bulldozers cleared land between North River Road and the riverbed in the area of Borkey Flats. That’s about one mile north of 24th Street.
Several weeks ago, a fire in the riverbed moved up onto the hills overlooking the riverbed. It burned two houses and several outbuildings. Police dozens hundreds of homes off Creston Road they feared might be in the path of that wildfire. The new temporary tent camp located in Borkey Floats will provide an alternative for transients living in the riverbed. That will give law enforcement a place to relocate the riverbed campers. During a city council meeting in mid-July, City Councilman John Hamon pushed for the development of a place to relocate the dwellers in the riverbed as a step to ending the riverbed fires.
The grading was done last week at the new temporary tent camp along North River Road. Some asphalt has been poured for the parking area. If you drive North River Road you can see the planned camp easily from the roadway. Fire chief Jonathon Stornetta said he expects the camp will be completed this week. Development of the tent camp will cost about $20,000. Stornetta said he believes it will cost between $20-40,000 per month to operate that facility.
