The Lewiston City Council has approved the first reading of an ordinance that would remove a cap on the number of beds at homless shelters within city limits.
Current city code limits homeless shelters to 50 beds. The council adopted the restriction a few years ago when the city was engaged in a neighborhood dispute in North Lewiston, where area residents banded against the former ROC Rescue Mission and the vagrancy they said it promoted.
The ROC facility eventually closed, and no other operations had proposed a homeless shelter until the Union Gospel Mission this year. The faith-based organization operates shelters in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene, and recently opened a thrift store on Snake River Ave., where it wants to add the shelter.
CEO Phil Altmeyer has told the council that it only runs “high-barrier” shelters that require sobriety and participation in rehabilitation programs for its residents. The ROC was considered a “low-barrier” operation because it had no such requirements for the homeless people it served.
During the meeting’s public comment period the overwhelming majority support the move.
The council also unanimously voted to initiate the process to change the necessary zoning regulations to allow high-barrier shelters by conditional use permit. The Lewiston Planning and Zoning Commission can now hold a public hearing on specific proposals before voting on any recommendations to the city council. (Lewiston Tribune)
