Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOMMUNITY OF CHRIST SEASONAL OVERFLOW SHELTER - BDR ..... FIRST NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING - BDR160020 - MINUTES/NOTES - CORRESPONDENCE-NEIGHBORHOOD MEETINGSEASONAL OVERFLOW SHELTER NEIGHBORHOODCity of MEETING Fort Collins /"'�,, Project: Community of Christ Seasonal Overflow Shelter I Meeting Date: June 131", 2016 Facilitator: Sue Beck-Ferkiss I Place/Room: Community of Christ Church I Name ' �pkoiei- Address Crvfi2l14 Zip Code 'vi111 E-Mail f�/�L ' ''�'('F'e�d��'�fl� Phone ` �j76 g�6 }a70 c iY�14e{ti— 1--Miv `V, J—. O "' (, / �� BSA" —� i.1�it �"l►+hJ ��� .G. 0�,� NL 6 D �a f7 �1 nd eo AMo �t ver,c), kl 07 - ----- --- --- - ------- ---------- NOTICE: The City of Fort Collins will use the contact information you provide on this sign in sheet to deliver any additional information related to the topic of this meeting to you. This sign in sheet and the contact information you provide (except email addresses) is considered a public record. Il 3 Page — of M M Response (Applicant): Our congregation feels this is a privilege of ours to host people who need it. Our mission is to help people. We've never had a problem here. They come here to sleep and that's it. The Church donates the space. The biggest problem we have is dog poop. Question: At DMA Plaza, we are very grateful. We missed you not being open this past winter. We found people sleeping in stairwells many times. We didn't kick them out; we allowed them to stay until 6 AM. If this keeps people out of stairwells, then this is great. Response (Applicant): Our goal is to help people. The Rescue Mission also tries to help. Comment: The Rescue Mission helps people on drugs, I am glad Catholic Charities doesn't. Response (Applicant): Catholic Charities doesn't allow people on drugs and we do a breathalyzer test to people looking to stay. Response (Applicant): Our facility belongs to the world church, we can't serve alcohol due to insurance. We may need to test people to make sure we follow this requirement. There are 5 churches in the area and we get together to discuss our strengths and how we can all serve the community the best. That's led us to pursue a shelter from 6 PM to 10 PM. Comment: I just want to say thanks to the providers, you do a great job. Response (Applicant): We will send these messages to the decision maker. Question: Have you done surveys of the neighborhood to see if people are for or against this proposal? People aren't here because they feel like they weren't heard. Response (Applicant): We did what the Land Use Code told us, perhaps it was our fault people didn't feel like they were heard the last time. Comment: Please do the same elsewhere in the community, I hope we look at models that are working elsewhere. Response (Applicant): Yes, we have done that. Comment: Utah has been very successful. Response (Applicant): The church helped out in Utah. N N by themselves because it is unsafe. I also think it is important to separate the transients out from the rest of the homeless population since it's usually the transients that are disrespectful to the neighbors. Response (Applicant): Thank you for your comment. The downtown area is not the only area impacted. Areas outside of downtown are increasingly impacted by the homeless population. Question: What is the next step? Response (Applicant): We will process all of this information and make a report and will submit our development review proposal. Question: Will this be an administrative decision? Response (Applicant): Yes, appeals will go to the Planning & Zoning Board and then to Council if you want to appeal the Planning & Zoning Board's decision. Question: Who decides on the proposal, have you made your mind up? Response (Applicant): The planning department decides on the proposal. I am in favor of the project but I am a co -applicant. Comment: So it sounds like the decision has been made but I don't want this approved. Question: What is the purpose of the meeting? Response (Applicant): We want to make sure we hear from the neighborhoods and try to address their concerns. There was a lot of opposition to Red Tail Ponds, but it was a NIMBY voice: Comment: I've volunteered in this sector, but this just isn't fair. Also, I just want to make a comment that we saw Homeless Gear distributing their goods to homeless folks in Library Park and we asked them to move and they obliged us and distributed their goods elsewhere. This area is disproportionately impacted, do it somewhere else. Response (Applicant): This site makes sense as it is close to existing services. Downtown is also a draw for the whole community. Just travel around the City. People were up in arms about Red Tail Ponds but it's been a huge success. Look at the Starbucks on JFK and Harmony. That's a hangout for the homeless, too. Response (Applicant): We recognize this is a complex issue and we're trying to get these throughout the community. Question: Will you favor convenience for the homeless versus the neighbors? Response (Applicant): It sounds like we're talking about two different things. We have a transient population and a population of homeless people that are Fort Collins community members. It sounds like the concern is about the transient population during the daytime, which is a concern I share. We're not going to solve this issue with this facility. We will only use this facility if it's needed. so N City's codes have remained constant as a percentage of the overall costs of development. Land costs are the biggest driver of the increased costs of development in Fort Collins. Comment: The rates have increased but I don't think City studies say much, I think they are self-serving. Look at the new City building on Laporte as an example. Comment: My neighbor couldn't be here but she had a number of comments I would like to share for the record. Her two kids took their dog on a walk and they were finding used condoms in the alley behind their house. She is concerned with the number of homeless people in the neighborhood. Question: There's a disproportionate burden on downtown, why is that? I've had to call the police for public urination, homeless people harassing my female employees, this seems like a disproportionate impact and that the concentration of homeless people is only going to increase with this proposal. We need to spread this around the community. Response (Applicant): We don't pick where our partners choose to locate these services. Question: If the City is able to find partners elsewhere, will the City provide busing to these other locations? Response (Applicant): There is a possibility, but we're hoping the churches or non-profit partners will do that. Comment: Churches might be hesitant to provide rides so they can keep their buses clean for members of the church. DMA has a problem with homeless people sleeping in the foyer and defecating in the building. It's an ongoing problem so I am wondering how can we people in at an earlier time in the evening? Response (Applicant): For Community of Christ, it's a building use issue. We have other groups that use the building during those hours. Comment: You should find a church in another part of town and provide the homeless folks with bus passes to get there. Cheyenne buys homeless people bus passes to Fort Collins. Response (Applicant): Transfort is not robust enough to serve homeless folks during those hours of the day. We want to provide a better service than that. Comment: I came to the previous meeting and didn't feel my voice was heard and that the decision had already been made. The library has become a hangout for homeless people. We've seen men unconscious in broad daylight in front of the library. We had to check and make sure he wasn't dead. We called the police to come and help out but when they took him away they still left his empty bottle of mouthwash in the park. We've seen a stabbing on the corner and rapes next to Safeway. We've had people sleeping in bushes outside of our homes and have also had peeping toms. We pick up trash and used needles on a regular basis. I'm against this proposal and I feel the rest of the city should share the burden. I feel unheard and unsafe. Our neighbor's kids aren't allowed to use the bathroom at the library so so Response (Applicant): We won't operate every year and we will also have a meeting every time before we activate the shelter. Comment: This seems to put a disproportionate burden on downtown, this should be a city-wide conversation. This seems like a half-baked proposal given that the City spends money on housing but has done nothing to address the homelessness issue. Response (Applicant): The Housing Authority opened its first permanent supportive housing project, Red Tail Ponds, in 2015 on South College. This was a $14 million project for permanent supportive housing. The City is working on building a similar facility somewhere else. Question: Is this an incentive for more homeless folks to come here? I don't think the homeless are a community asset. Response (Applicant): We're looking for partners outside of downtown, but we want one facility approved in case we can't find another partner somewhere else in the community. To put the homeless population in perspective, according to our point in time count conducted in the winter, Fort Collins had around 300 homeless people living here. In the summer time, we see an increase in the number of homeless folks and so that number rises to somewhere around 400 people. The services in our community are basic (food, shelter, etc.), which is not much, different than other communities. For example, Eugene, OR has over 3,000 homeless people living there and they are a similar size community to Fort Collins. Eugene also provides temporary housing, which we do not have. The point of our program is to save lives. Response (Applicant): Catholic Charities is focused on self-sufficiency. We have a 120 day program that aims to get people back on track to being self-sufficient. Our success rate is 62.9% for families and 45% for individuals. High rent in Fort Collins is one of the reasons for the lack of success. The other is that many of the people in the program have mental health or substance abuse issues that make self- sufficiency a challenge. Question: Do you have any statistics on recidivism? Response (Applicant): For veterans, 30/31 are in stable housing. We try to get to the root cause of their issues so they remain in stable housing. Permanent supportive housing helps with folks that have mental health or substance abuse issues. They're tough to build due to the cost of land. Question: How about the W Horsetooth property? Response (Applicant): That is a land bank parcel, other land bank parcels could work for permanent supportive housing, but the City does not develop land. Comment: The cost to develop in the city is expensive. This is driven by City codes and requirements. Response (Applicant): There is some code creep. I would look at the City's Housing Affordability Policy Study (NAPS), which was a study done about the cost of housing in the city. According to HAPS, the so Comment: People going directly to the site without a lottery is great. Response (Applicant): We adjusted to do this, we also had warming huts for periods of time where there were no shelters open. Comment: I agree with targeting women and families. 10 PM — 6 AM does not meet the need. Where do they go for the other hours of the day? Response (Applicant): The Mennonite church and Peak cover the other hours of the day. Comment: AM Monday -Friday is also problematic. Response (Applicant): The Rescue Mission opens at 6:30 AM during the week. Comment: 6 PM —10 PM is still a gap. Response (Applicant): Same for Catholic Charities. Money and space provides limitations. The library is also open during those hours. Question: Is the goal for this to be a more permanent place for a homeless shelter? Response (Applicant): We're testing a congregation model where we use multiple congregations throughout the city to provide shelter. The churches would then transport shelter users to a warm place during the PM gap. Comment: I went a homelessness meeting at the library and someone mentioned that this is like herding people, which is a travesty. Response (Applicant): I remember that comment and I remember them suggesting a drop -in facility like the YMCA, which we don't have right now. Comment: I also remember a comment on not providing more homeless services so we don't attract more homeless people. Response (Applicant): Yes, and the City's role is to protect life. We want to get people into housing, ultimately. Response (Applicant): It's also important to identify how many people were turned away. Las year we turned down people less than 12 days the whole winter and for 2 of those we used extraordinary measures to accommodate everyone. This isn't a regular event but it is better than people suffering. We don't have a plan yet for this year. Some years, we had the overflow shelter open every night. For other years, we used temperature as a trigger to open an overflow shelter, which didn't work very well. Response (Applicant): We're relying on Catholic Charities this year potentially. Question: What is the motivation for the 5 year approval? Is this permanent? If so, I am against this. I would prefer an annual permit. N 40 NEIGHBORHOOD INFORMATION MEETING Project: Community of Christ Seasonal Overflow Shelter Date: June 13, 2016 City Staff: Clay Frickey (Planning) Applicant: Sue Beck-Ferkiss (City of Fort Collins — Social Sustainability) Guy Mendt (Catholic Charities) Tim Dolan (Catholic Charities) Rick Bunch (Community of Christ Church) Question: Provider has not been selected, is that true? Response (Applicant): True, we are working with Catholic Charities on a plan for the winter. Catholic Charities will run the system Question: We were told we have an opportunity to provide input, what is the purpose of the second neighborhood meeting? Response (Applicant): This meeting is about permitting the use at this site, that doesn't necessarily mean this site will be used as an overflow shelter. If we decide to activate this site, we will have a second meeting. Question: What was the basis for selecting this site, expediency? Response (Applicant): We're talking to many churches outside of Downtown, we're trying to be proactive by bringing this to the neighborhoods early on. Question: Easy for whom, the clients or the system? People had trouble finding the location last time. This just seems like expediency. Response (Applicant): The main benefit of this site is its location. The church came to us to be a test case. Comment: I think this would be a great spot for women and children, I have concern for the men that hang out here, though. We've had issues with men in the past and have had to call the police so we prefer women and children. Response (Applicant): We're glad you've used the police if you have concerns please reach out to us. Response (Applicant): When gauging the need, we use projections. We understand your preference but that is the smallest unsheltered population. We use vouchers for unsheltered families. This also depends on the number of facilities, staffing, and other programming at the church.