Shelter vote not end of issue
The plan to move the homeless shelter to an unoccupied warehouse near the Douglas County Jail won a key victory at the City Commission meeting Tuesday. The plan still faces much opposition, despite the 5-0 vote that allowed a special-use permit to be issued. Enlarge video
Bring on the next hurdle.
Leaders of the Lawrence Community Shelter were expressing thanks Wednesday for a City Commission vote late Tuesday night that gave preliminary approval for a permit to move the homeless shelter to a warehouse near the Douglas County Jail.
It was a victory, but in what has become one of the more contentious City Hall issues of the last few years, one victory may not be enough.
“I hope it doesn’t come to a lawsuit, but that is kind of the question of the day right now,” said Loring Henderson, shelter director.
It was a question that hung over the heads of commissioners, who did not decide the issue until minutes before midnight on Tuesday. At issue are covenants that have long been placed on the property at 3701 Franklin Park Circle. An attorney with PDO Investors, a Lawrence-based group that owns property near the site, has suggested the covenants will not allow a homeless shelter on the property.
Price Banks, a Lawrence attorney for the shelter, has said the concerns are “without merit,” and argues that the covenants are related to general appearance and aesthetics that the shelter can meet.
To commissioners, it sounded like the type of disagreement that may end up in court. But commissioners ultimately said it wasn’t their role to prohibit the shelter from moving forward based on covenants, which are a part of a private contract.
“My job, I thought, was to look at this strictly from a land-use perspective,” Mayor Mike Amyx said. “In the end, based on the changes they’re making, it met the requirements in our code.”
That doesn’t mean, though, that a new 125-bed shelter on the site is a slam dunk. Shelter leaders have said that about $3 million in funds will be needed for the project to be feasible.
The group has about $1.1 million in pledges, which has sparked optimism among fundraisers since a full-fledged campaign has not begun.
Whether a lawsuit would dampen any fundraising momentum is uncertain. Henderson, on Wednesday, did not want to go down that road.
“I’m always an optimist,” Henderson said. “We have gotten this far. I think the people on the other side are people of goodwill and will want to work this out.”
In other issues related to the shelter proposal:
• Commissioners asked several questions about why the shelter’s management plan was not tougher on guests who have broken rules. Commissioner Lance Johnson asked specifically why there wasn’t an immediate, permanent ban for people caught buying or selling drugs on the shelter site. The shelter’s current policy calls for a ban of up to one year.
“When you are working with people with addictions, you give them second chances,” Henderson said in response. “One chance and you are out doesn’t work with people who have addictions.”
• Commissioners confirmed that figuring out a way to add public transit service to the site was critical. But that issue did not receive much attention on Tuesday night. There have been concerns that large city buses may have difficulty entering and exiting busy Kansas Highway 10 near the site. Commissioners, though, said they want to look at options for improving that situation.
Commissioner Rob Chestnut said he wants to begin discussions with the county about how to improve public transportation in the area, which has been needed to serve the Douglas County Jail for years, he said.
“My sense is that we’ll be able to work those issues out,” Chestnut said.
• Henderson said a new shelter at the site could be operational within 18 months, depending on how fundraising proceeds and how the covenants issue is resolved.
“I wouldn’t want to be held to that,” Henderson said. “But since the building is already there, it won’t be a lengthy construction project. And the city is eager to have us move out of downtown and we are eager to move as soon as we can.”
Commissioners will have the special use permit for the shelter on their agenda next Tuesday for a second reading and to further refine details of the permit. That meeting begins at 6:35 p.m.
Comments
Did_I_say_that 3 years, 1 month ago
I think this is a better proposal: http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/did_i...
love2fish_ks 3 years, 1 month ago
What a crock. We already have the reputation as being a great place to live for those that want to 'live free' and have no responsibilities or obligations. We have streets in need of repair and money will be diverted for city transit busses to navigate around the homeless shelter? Are you kidding me? You want a bus route between the shelter and downtown? Why would any sane person do this?
We provide the community building downtown to the homeless from 7 a.m. to 10. I got tired of the drug needles on the floor, dirty underwear in the sinks, stepping over drunks, etc. The community building is closed every day 10 - 11 to clean up after the homeless leave, to make it presentable and sanitary.
My gosh, this is insane! More enablement??? We do not help people by enablement. Not to mention the huge waste of tax dollars that could be put to better use of providing programs. Here is a novel idea, programs for those who pay the TAXES and keep the place open.
Time to get a backbone, fire the parks and rec leaders that allow this to happen. Kill the enablement programs.
Sent in a Flash on the NOW Network
50YearResident 3 years, 1 month ago
The fund raising is yet to begin, they need 3 million Dollars to get started and probably another 1 million Dollars annually every year forever and forever. This will bleed the community dry. If the citizens want to end this shelter plan then with-hold donations and it can not go forward,
cowboy 3 years, 1 month ago
Seems to me a rather large lack of leadership displayed by the commission. On one hand they make the appearance of doing something , on the other hand they dump the issue on the adjacent homeowners to fight the location of the shelter.
Just a few questions
What resources is the new shelter close to ? Clue - None What Path will the homeless use to get there ? Clue - right thru the neighborhoods Where is the closest panhandling opportunity ? Clue - the retail along 23rd Street
If the city is going to have a shelter it should be next door to SRS not out in the sticks
fly_on_wall 3 years, 1 month ago
Its not in the sticks It is right next to the jail. How much can property values change next the the jail when homeless shelter is moved in? Plus the area closest to it is undeveloped.
chestnut 3 years, 1 month ago
Having a shelter out in the boondocks is going to lead to many more people sleeping outside, on Mass street, in the parks, basically wherever the people who had the terrible idea to move the shelter out there didn't want the homeless to go.
What an idiotic proposed site. Let's just ship'em all out to the lot next to the jail and then we don't have to worry about them. Dispicable.
consumer1 3 years, 1 month ago
Doesn't appear anyone in this photo is missing any meals.
catiefan 3 years, 1 month ago
It's not that they're eating well, consumer, it's that the food that is cheapest and can be stretched the farthest to serve a family is most often the food that has the most starch, fat, and calories. You need to learn more about the link between poverty and obesity. Folks are doing the best that they can; the price structure of the food industry works against them.
asbury 3 years, 1 month ago
Good points, all around.
50YearResident 3 years, 1 month ago
A new unseen cost for the shelter: Lawrence Memorial writes of $3 Million for charity cases.
radicool12 3 years, 1 month ago
I want to say first off i am glad they are doing this and second off screw you people that want to rag it on the homeless how many of you have actually been homeless hmm let me guess none so before you go ragging it on them why dont you be homeless for a couple of days and see what it is like without all the amentities that you have i dont think it would be easy for you see i no first hand what it is like i have been in their shoes before and it is not fun i just wish people would hear some of the homeless people out they are not all drunks and druggies some of them were put their because of landlords who decided to sell houses out from under them or because america wants to send all jobs to mexico so before you go ragging on them how about you find out why some of them are there. O and to the people who do not like this o well i dont care what you think. I think all the people on here dogging the homeless could not make it at all being homeless and without anything so go back to your familys and your nice job but one day you wont have all that and will become homeless and i hope that when that day comes there will be no help for you.
keepingfingerscrossed 3 years, 1 month ago
This is all wrong! You have secion 8 housing but that is not working. They say they have a waiting period of 2 or more years. Why is that? These homeless people need a job why not try to get them to work and let them find a place to live like the rest of the people that come to town. This town tries to help the wrong people if they have a job help them get into a home some how. YOU are ENABLING people when you give them everything.
Paul R. Getto 3 years, 1 month ago
radicool12: Good points, except for your last line. "i hope that when that day comes there will be no help for you." === The great ESSENE Teacher (AKA Joshua) would suggest we never wish evil on the less fortunate. He was, however, allegedly a hard task-master who didn't put up with any crap. Anyone in serious debt is one job loss and 2-3 paychecks from homelessness, unless of course, their rich aunt lets them sleep in the garden shed. Technically, their children would still be homeless and subject to the Vento-McKinney Act. http://www.seirtec.org/nche/m-v.php
50YearResident 3 years, 1 month ago
Can you tell it is after 9 AM and the Liabrary is open.
consumer1 3 years, 1 month ago
RADCOOL says, "I want to say first off i am glad they are doing this and second off screw you people that want to rag it on the homeless how many of you have actually been homeless hmm let me guess none so before you go ragging it on them why dont you be homeless for a couple of days and see what it is like without all the amentities that you have."
During the 70's when it was cool to be a street person (we didn't consider ourselves "homeless" ). We were sowing wild oats, but you can bet there was no agency out there feeding me, giving me clothes, or offering me a place to sleep. That was a trend of the 70's now homelessness is a way of life for people who choose not to participate in the greatest economic opportunity in the entire world. Imigrants come here by the ten's of thousands every years to work for prosperity and achieve a greater standard of living. Yet, we enable self entitled people who feel they are owed a living just for being a naturalize citizen.
I choose to work, pay my bills, stay away from over consuming alcohol and drugs. ( and I did plenty during the late 60's and 70's.
I choose to be self sufficient and automous. I choose work for what I have, I strive to NOT be a victim. I choose to be part of a solution rather than the problem. Many of these people choose to be victims because they know this fair city will feed, house, and enable their choice to live this lifestyle.
I am not a great money manager, but I learn from my mistakes, I struggle often to get the bills paid. I chose to pay my bills rather than buy alcohol or drugs with the money I earn.
radicool12 3 years, 1 month ago
well good for you but what i was trying to get at is people dont even give them a chance they dont want to talk to them or even say hi and to the person who said library is open i am not homeless i live in a nice house with my family and i goto college to better my self. you see i had to do a essay on a topic of my choice and i chosse homeless ness and i interviewed alot of homeless and i heard their stories and it was said to here some of them dont need to be and they are trying to get out of their but it is hard when jobs are scarce. i no of one couple who got out of there and bought a home and are now on there feet but it took them awhile all i am saying is before you dog them plz take the time to get to no some of them
he_who_knows_all 3 years, 1 month ago
I take it that you never learned punctuation or spelling in college, did you?
radicool12 3 years, 1 month ago
no i am paying on my own dime and hmm your name says it all
he_who_knows_all 3 years, 1 month ago
My apologies radicool12. It was meant to be a joke. I wish there was an editing option. I'm new to this commenting...
consumer1 3 years, 1 month ago
Rad, I know more of the homeless, than you might imagine. I work with them on a dailey basis. I know they lie when it serves them well. I know each one of them has a hard luck story. I also know they choose drugs or alcohol before choosing good decisions, like getting out of homelessness. I understand your concern as well though.
januarygirl 3 years, 1 month ago
CITY COMMISSIONERS, WHERE IS THE COMMON SENSE IN ALL OF THIS , TRANSPORTATION COSTS, ROUTE FOR NEW TRANSPORTATION, MONEY, MONEY, MONEY, ARE YOU FOR REAL? WHAT ABOUT ALL THE TAX PAYERS OUT HERE TRYING TO KEEP SCHOOLS GOING AND PAYING YOUR SALERIES IN THESE TOUGH TIMES, THINGS ARE NOT SUPPOSE TO BE ADDED TO THE BURDEN. PEOPLE NEED HELP, NO DOUBT, BUT LETS ALL BE SENSISBILE AND REALISTIC ABOUT THE NEED OF ALL. THERE ARE PROGRAMS IN PLACE HELPING PEOPLE IN NEED, THIS COMMUNITY IS VERY GENEROUS AND CARING IN SO MANY WAYS. YOU ARE SO PUSHING IT WITH THIS PROJECT. START-UP COST IS JUST A SAMALL PART, ITS THE EVERY YEAR COST THAT IS SCARY, PLEASE THINK HARDER ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND ASKING.
januarygirl 3 years, 1 month ago
CONSUMER 1, DITTO , I HAVE ALSO WOKED WITH THEM AND I HAVE FOUND THE SAME THING
radicool12 3 years, 1 month ago
He who knows it all. I did learn it in school and college but when you have a 2 year old jumping all over you it is kind of hard to spell and punctuate correctly . I also do work with the homeless to and some of them do choose it but others are do not and also he who knows it all i see you just come in and rag on me only
januarygirl 3 years, 1 month ago
HE WHO KNOWS IT ALL, IS THIS THE BEST YOU CAN COME WITH,TO CRITISIZE ,THE SPELLING AND PUNCTUATION OF OTHERS, PLEASE!!!
Did_I_say_that 3 years, 1 month ago
It is the curse of the new commenter. he_who_knows_nothing has made three posts thus far; all of which were directed at grammatical infractions.
he_who_knows_all 3 years, 1 month ago
Why don't you re-read my first three posts again Did_I_say_that. Only one was directed at grammar, when it was meant to read as a joke like my other two.
Please go back to "plugging" your blog. You've posted links to it how many times now? :-)
Did_I_say_that 3 years, 1 month ago
My apologies; I went to your "view all comments". The other two comments were about a "sentence" and a "clause". I should have checked the permalinks.
Therefore, I offer my sincerest apology.
I will just get back to plugging my blog; thank you for the idea. I had not posted a link on this forum.
Please read my blog, "Lawrence Community Shelter: Scattered-site Proposal," http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/did_i... . Now endorsed by "he_who_knows_all," who recently recommended that I "go back to "plugging" [my] blog."
januarygirl 3 years, 1 month ago
not cool!!!!!
fly_on_wall 3 years, 1 month ago
Was it First Blood the movie about Rambo before the Rambo Movie. Maybe people should watch that. Does anyone know how many homeless veterans there are? Does anyone know why? Does anyone know the homeless increases when the state run mental hospitals closed? Frankly on the subject of cost is it more expensive to incarcerate people or to have the homeless shelter? I think it is incarceration other wise we would still have the mental hospitals. I don't know the type of world everyone else lives in but I have seen people with nothing to loss be dangerous. These programs are the crumbs used to control the economic disadvantaged from taking what others have. Everyone PAYS for there freedoms in one way or another.
radicool12 3 years, 1 month ago
This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
oneeye_wilbur 3 years, 1 month ago
The Lawrence city commissioners should be thanked for their ongoing wrecking of the East side of twon and now the Southeast side.
Who owns the building in question and who is the realtor?
The Journal World owes it to the public as a public service to print the full two pages each 8 1/2 x 11 of services available within the community. And there are plenty to help anyone who is in need.
bliddel 3 years, 1 month ago
With unemployment as high as it is, for as long as it has been, I'm a little awestruck by the rampant indifference and contempt for homeless in what is supposedly such a great city. Apparently the homeless, whether by choice, or by bad decisions, or medical bankruptcy, or be being laid-off for mere economic reasons, are about as popular as high-level radioactive waste.
Everyone, including some who indicate that they work at the shelter, seems to agree that everyone living at the shelter is either a drug abuser or an alcohol abuser. I find that rather difficult to believe. It sounds like stereotyping to me.
If the shelter can obtain the funding to move to better facilities, the rest of us should lead, follow, or at least get out of their way.
Grump 3 years, 1 month ago
I'm going to have to drive all the way to east 23rd street to buy crack cocaine? I hope they put in a drive-through window or something.
oneeye_wilbur 3 years, 1 month ago
Where are the success stories from Loring Henderson since he started this folly? Identify those who are truly homeless and not due to eviction because they chose to buy booze or crack. Better yet, how many at 10th and Kentucky are there as a place to meet, kinda like a clubhouse? The Journal world has done a pitiful job of reporting the facts of the history of the place and how it is what it is. Again, a challenge to the J/W to print the two full pages of services availabble in this town for folks in need.
Two pages 8 1/2 x 11. Then explain why someone is still needing help. Explain why the Salvation Army now has a canteen feeding at night at 10th and Kentucky .
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