Chapel Hill homeless shelters now need a lengthier review

After months of debate concerning a proposed relocation of the town’s homeless shelter, Chapel Hill has decided to become more involved.

From now on, the town will involve the community in discussions to approve the building and location of future homeless shelters.

An ordinance requiring that shelters go through a lengthy special-use permit approval process will allow council members to debate certain aspects of future shelters — such as the maximum number of beds permitted — on a case-by-case basis.

“The S.U.P. process goes through the entire community,” council member Penny Rich said.

The ordinance also lifts a 25-person cap on the amount of beds allowed in a homeless shelter, giving the council more freedom to pick an appropriate limit.

Council member Sally Greene called the 25-person maximum, established in 1985, arbitrary.

“I don’t know where the number 25 came from. I’m embarrassed why no one on the staff knows where that came from,” Greene said. “It’s a mystery.”

And resident Marc Joseph mentioned that the limit would likely not be enforced.

“Has the shelter ever been closed down because there were 30 residents, 40 residents?” he said. “I suspect the answer is no.”

The revision in the capacity limit will open the door for the Inter-Faith Council for Social Service to go through with its proposal to establish a larger shelter off Homestead Road.

Chris Moran, executive director of the Inter-Faith Council, said the group has not yet submitted a special-use permit to the Town Council.

The shelter has stood at its 100 W. Rosemary St. location since 1985. The proposed project is slated for 1315 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

The shelter would stand close to several residential neighborhoods and Homestead Park.

Due to a combination of the economic recession and the unusually cold weather, the homeless shelter is tending to a growing number of people.

Moran said that the shelter has housed 80 people a night lately, despite its limit of 25 beds.

Rebecca McCulloh, an Inter-Faith Council board of directors member, also urged the council to lift the cap.

“If this law stands, 55 men would be on the streets tonight with no place to go,” McCulloh said.

Council members Donna Bell and Matt Czajkowski also requested a petition asking the town planning board to develop guidelines for the design of future shelters.



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