Sutter County Sheriff’s Office cleans up Second Beach area
Earlier this week, the Sutter County Sheriff ’s Office and other agencies conducted cleanup efforts in the Second Beach area located near Cranmore Road and Donahue Road in Robbins.
Sutter County Sheriff ’s Office Deputy Andre Licon said the area is along the Sacramento River and used to be a popular fishing area for sturgeon, striper and other sport fishing. However, in recent years the area has become a homeless encampment.
In November 2019, the Sutter County Board of Supervisors passed a camping ordinance prohibiting camping in certain areas in the county. The ordinance began being enforced in February 2020 and since then cleanup efforts like the one at Second Beach have taken place.
“It’s been good,” Licon said of the cleanup efforts. “It’s a really slow process for it to be done properly.”
Licon said the efforts at Second Beach began about a year ago when he advised people camping in the area of the ordinance and representatives of bi-county behavioral health informed campers of the resources available and what their needs were.
On Monday and Tuesday, the sheriff ’s office, along with California Highway Patrol, the Department of Fish and Game, the Basin Irrigation and Drainage Authority, Sutter County Road Department and HEART outreach, took part in the cleanup.
Licon said about 75 vehicles were removed from the area. Those included RVS, passenger vehicles and one mobile home. Vehicles that were abandoned were included in that total. Because most of the campers were from out of the county, the camp was almost entirely vehiclebased instead of tent encampments. He said about 50-60 people were at the camp when the cleanup took place.
Case workers and social workers were on hand to offer services and provide information on shelters but no one in the area sought the services, according to Licon. He said the county has many resources for homeless individuals such as the Better Way shelter and a overnight tent shelter, but campers are not required to use those services if they don’t want to.
“I think the number of resources per capita far exceeds other counties,” Licon said. “…It’s important for people to realize we work hard to get folks into housing.”
Other cleanup efforts completed to date include the area of Second Street near the Sutter County Airport and along the Feather River bank south along the levee from Yuba City. Licon said some debris cleanup still needs to be done in the Second Beach area.
Cleanup will take place on a parcel of land on the east side of the Feather River and south along both sides of the river.
“It’s a very challenging situation for everyone and every community,” Licon said about the camping issue. “And there’s no magic fix.”