After more than three years of Novato’s Binford Road being a linear encampment of recreational vehicles, the county has come up with a plan to slowly phase it out.

The three-pronged, three-year $2.4 million plan includes finding housing for the 80 to 90 people living in the camp, removing abandoned vehicles and protections for the Rush Creek Preserve wetlands that border Binford.

The three-year timeline and cost should raise eyebrows. It matches the length of the state grant aimed at removing the RVs, but the extended timeline also reflects the complexities involved in helping people into permanent housing. The challenges are not dissimilar to those the county has faced in clearing so-called “live-aboards” anchored in Richardson Bay.

Today, Binford’s roadside is lined with more than 100 vehicles.

The campers say they have nowhere else to go. Some are local jobholders who say their paychecks fall far short of being able to rent or buy housing in Marin. The Binford Road encampment is a glaring example of Marin’s homeless problem. One critic of the county’s handling of the situation likened it to “a Third World country at times.”

The county’s plan is being called “a coordinated, compassionate and service-oriented response.”

Some of the campers have been sent to Marin by other jurisdictions.

Over the three years, the county’s repeated efforts to move campers into permanent housing has been limited — five individuals have been housed and six more are on a path toward finding housing.

Some campers have shown no interest in moving, officials say.

Meanwhile, the strand of campers has grown. The scene is jarring, certainly not what you’d expect or want to see along a public road — anywhere.

Lining a wetlands preserve raises issues regarding pollution, even with the county providing portable restrooms, wash stations and trash bins.

In fact, the Binford situation took hold as the county was passing a succession of parking restrictions aimed at preventing RVs from parking overnight in other parts of the county. Those bans led them to Binford, one of the last unrestricted roads in Marin. Binford, a county road leading from the Atherton Avenue interchange to the county’s Gnoss Field airport, became a last stop — a three-year stop for many.

It is a situation that has grown without an effective remedy. Parking signs and tickets didn’t work. Without available housing, the encampment was protected by a federal court ruling that paved the way for homeless camps to root on public lands.

The county’s goal is for a humane and lasting solution for the campers and for the environment and businesses along Binford. Few can argue with that.

County staff say the new plan should show early results as more abandoned vehicles and belongings are removed. Barriers are being installed to prevent other RVs from moving in.

The state grant will pay for two full-time outreach workers to help connect campers with services and housing opportunities. It will also pay for a case manager focused on finding housing for the campers and for a part-time program supervisor.

The grant will also pay for county services such as trash pickup and pumping out RV wastewater tanks.

Although the grant has a three-year timeline, progress in eliminating the encampment shouldn’t take that long.

Three years has been a long time, both for the growth of the camp and efforts to phase it out.

It is time that the county needs to show progress. Supervisor Eric Lucan, a former member of the Novato City Council who understands the complexities of the challenge, should keep the steady dismantling of the camp a top priority.

Having a plan and three years of funding are clear signs to campers and the public that time is running out for the Binford Road RV camp.