With a vote of 7-0, the Chapel Hill Town Council unanimously passed the Inter-Faith Council’s Good Neighbor Plan, after months of discussion among residents.
The Good Neighbor Plan addresses concerns area residents have about the new transitional homeless shelter being built, which will help rehabilitate homeless men back into society.
But the plan has also come under fire by many residents worried about the impact of the shelter, at 1315 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd., on the neighborhoods around it.
Chris Moran, executive director of the Inter-Faith Council, said the plan was much more detailed than any other of its kind in the U.S. or Canada.
The plan includes 17 beds that will house homeless men in emergency situations, until an emergency shelter can be constructed elsewhere in Orange County.
“A transitional housing facility and an emergency shelter are equally important for different reasons,” Moran said.
The council also approved by a vote of 6-1 the lease and sublease for the new property.
Under the conditions of the special use permit passed last year, the leases could not be approved by the council until the Good Neighbor Plan passed.
Council member Matt Czajkowski voted against the motion. He said he wanted the lease to include a provision that would require the Inter-Faith Council to move out of its current location in a town-owned building within a set time-limit.
