Winter homeless shelter site delayed

By KEVIN COURTNEY
Register Staff Writer

Placing the winter homeless shelter in a commercial area behind Wal-Mart was supposed to be a slam-dunk, but it turned out to be anything but.

Hearing of the proposal at the last minute, neighbors protested the decision before the City Council Tuesday, saying that Napa County, the shelter sponsor, hadn’t invited them to comment.

Surprised by the neighborhood grievance, the council put a hold on the shelter, forcing the county to rethink how it wants to proceed.

A winter shelter for up to 50 chronic homeless was proposed for an empty two-story office/warehouse building at 1098 Jordan Lane.

The Jordan Lane property was considered less problematic than placing the shelter at Napa Valley Exposition, Jim Featherstone, assistant director of Napa County Health and Human Services, said Friday.

In October, the Expo’s board of directors approved housing the shelter in one of its exhibit halls, while expressing concern about the impact on commercial rentals.

The county is rushing to open a temporary shelter on Jordan Lane before the weather gets worse, Featherstone said. “There are still people out there under bushes and blue tarps, getting colder and colder, wetter and wetter,” he said.

To move the project along, the Board of Supervisors scheduled a special meeting at 1 p.m. Tuesday to approve leasing 1098 Jordan for five months for $10,000.

The meeting was property noticed, but no effort was made to contact neighbors, Featherstone said. This isn’t required for leases, he said.

When neighbors showed up at the Board of Supervisors shortly after 1, the board had already approved the shelter on a 3-0 vote. Feeling hoodwinked, nearly two dozen of them showed up at the council’s 3:30 p.m. meeting.

The council was being asked to waive a requirement that the county give the city 60 days notice of a lease.

A half dozen residents, merchants and property managers spoke against the shelter and the lack of opportunity for public comment. Some said a shelter would lower property values, while others feared a rise in crime.

“We were all surprised that it was handled in this way and that none of us were informed what was going on,” Councilwoman Juliana Inman said afterward.

“Just putting a homeless shelter in a neighborhood without talking to the neighbors is a bad public process,” Councilman Mark van Gorder said.

The council voted 5-0 to not approve the 60-day waiver, while indicating a willingness to work with the county to get a shelter open as soon as possible.

“We have the same goals,” City Manager Mike Parness said Friday. “It’s more of a process question.”

Featherstone was scheduled to meet Friday afternoon with Parness, Mayor Jill Techel, Supervisor Brad Wagenknecht and County Administrator Nancy Watt to decide what happens next.

Featherstone said he was willing to meet with neighbors to fully explain the winter shelter operation. “I have no fear of large groups of people yelling at me. It’s an annual event,” he said.

The winter shelter was at Napa State Hospital in recent years. Before that, it was located at a former county fire station on Jefferson Street and in a downtown Napa church.

Adding fuel to the neighbor’s concern was the county’s announcement that it would lease 1098 Jordan through April 17, with an option to buy the building for $1.6 million.

The county needs additional space for its social service programs, but the Jordan Lane property is not being considered for a permanent shelter, Featherstone said.

The county currently doesn’t have the money to buy the building, but would look for funds while operating the winter shelter until spring, he said.

Inman said she wanted clarification of county intentions. She did not want a year-round shelter next to the planned river trail through the heart of the city, she said.

The county can do anything it wants with 1098 Jordan if it waits 60 days after putting the city on notice, Featherstone said. Unfortunately, a winter shelter is needed now, he said.

“There’s still the fairgrounds. There are still other things that we could do temporarily,” he said.

“I can certainly understand and support the need for a winter shelter,” Councilman Peter Mott said. “I hope we can get this done.”

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