The City of Santa Barbara has abruptly canceled its agreement with SB ACT to run the day center on Chapala Street over a variety of nuisance incidents, Noozhawk has learned.

City Attorney Sarah Knecht sent a 30-day written notice of termination of the agreement to SB ACT on Thursday.

The center is known as the FARO (Fostering Access, Resilience and Opportunity), which also means “lighthouse” in Spanish, and offers services to those who are homeless. The city partnered with SB ACT on the center in June 2024, but since the opening, neighbors, including Jodi House next door, have contended mismanagement of the program.

The situation in recent days escalated, with attorneys firing off letters, and emotions boiling over.

In a letter obtained by Noozhawk, attorneys for Jodi House outlined a variety of problems related to the FARO clients, including, yelling, public urination, loitering, smoking, trespassing and harassment.

A shirtless man allegedly urinated in front of Jodi House clients. In another instance, an intoxicated woman allegedly tried to enter the Jodi House property. Secondhand smoke from the FARO was “polluting the Jodi House property” on several occasions, according to the letter.

Sent to the owner of the building, the letter outlines 16 bullet points of concerns, including yelling, loitering and trespassing, addressed to SB ACT’s management of the program.

The Jodi House is a brain injury support center at 625 Chapala St. The FARO is next door at 621 Chapala St.

Santa Barbara City Administrator Kelly McAdoo told Noozhawk that the letter to SB ACT was an opportunity to “reset” the program.

“My goal is to figure out how to reopen the center,” McAdoo said. “I think we need to figure how to do it so that we are good neighbors. I would love to see the center open, and I do think it has been successful in connecting people with housing and services.”

McAdoo in March had requested that SB ACT Executive Director Rich Sander move to an appointments-only model, but that request was apparently denied. McAdoo, from her previous time as city manager for Hayward, had successful experience with an appointments-only program.

The services that the FARO provides were previously housed at Alameda Park. The Chapala Street location serves about 70 people a day.

“There’s a lot of different models out there for how these navigation centers work,” McAdoo told Noozhawk. “I am interested in exploring all different options to make sure we are good neighbors, and we can continue to provide services.”

The center runs five days a week and helps connect clients to a network of service providers to provide housing, employment assistance and behavioral health services in a one-stop-shop location.

SB ACT retained attorney Beth Collins of law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck to help with the situation.

Sander issued a statement to Noozhawk through Collins.

“We know homelessness impacts everyone, and it has always been our goal to find solutions that work for the entire community,” Sander said. “We remain committed to working with the city on a path forward.”

Knecht’s letter was sent Thursday, after the city learned that SB ACT had retained an attorney to represent it. McAdoo said the city leases the property at 621 Chapala St., and that after Jodi House hired a law firm, Schneiders & Associates, and sent the strongly worded letter to the building owner, she had to move to terminate the agreement.

The city, she said, does not want to lose its lease to provide the important services to the community at the site. PATH Santa Barbara runs the emergency shelter on Santa Barbara’s Eastside.

“We are talking to a variety of service providers,” McAdoo said.

Lindsey Black, executive director of Jodi House, told Noozhawk the situation is fluid.

“As a nonprofit organization that has served brain-injured members of the Santa Barbara community for more than 40 years, Jodi House knows there are inherent challenges in serving highly vulnerable populations,” she said. “We hope for an outcome that balances public safety and the needs of those who are experiencing homelessness.”