A group of South End residents have organized to oppose the construction of an 80-unit homeless housing facility that non-profit agency Downtown Emergency Services Center hopes to build at 5270 Rainier Avenue South, a currently weed-ridden vacant lot near the Columbia City and Hillman City commercial cores.
In packed community meetings and e-mails to government officials, many residents have raised concerns about the facility's possible impact on the neighborhood, which they say is still transitional and fragile despite its recent economic resurgence.
Site plans are currently being reviewed by funding sources including the Seattle Office of Housing, which will decide next month whether to provide more than $3 million to the $15-million project, said housing office spokeswoman LeAnne Nelson. The facility is slated to open in 2008.
A chief concern among community members is the possibility of the formerly homeless residents, many of whom would be mentally ill, causing disruptions in the largely residential area around the site.
"We already have an at-risk population with many elderly, disabled, and non-English speaking people and children. Into all this, they want to bring a population known for anti-social behavior," said Ray Akers, a community member who has asked DESC to withdraw its proposal.
DESC executive director Bill Hobson said that the facility's tenants would be screened for criminal behavior and would be prohibited from causing problems in the area.
"Our residents do not flood the neighborhood around them. Our protocols mandate good neighborliness and prohibit loitering, panhandling and drinking in the neighborhood," Hobson said.
Hobson also pointed to DESC's track record of running similar residential facilities that have received few complaints from neighbors.
"A year after facilities like these go in, they become non-events. These projects at worst prove not to have detrimental effects on the community, and frequently prove to be assets," Hobson said.
Neighbors also worried that the facility's residents would overburden the neighborhood's emergency responders.
"We only have one Medic One response unit in the area. Other DESC facilities put in about three emergency calls per day. That's going to put a strain on our services, making it difficult for this population and for our community," Akers said.
Hobson countered that DESC housing projects like the Rainier facility have on-site clinical services and call 911 much less frequently than the project Akers referenced.
"Our [emergency call] rate is comparable to that of a nursing home. People are confusing this project with our Eastlake facility," Hobson said.
1811 Eastlake is a DESC experimental housing project that allows its chronically alcoholic residents to drink on the premises.
"People have pointed to 1811 as the genesis of their concerns. For Eastlake we do call often, but this is a very different project," Hobson said, stressing that the proposed Rainier facility would not house chronic alcoholics.
Too many services?
Whatever population it will house, some community members see the facility as yet another undesirable project being forced on an area already loaded with them.
"[Zip code] 98118 is the center of the universe when it comes to social services. We're asked to accept more than our fair share. We have opened our arms widely to so many agencies. Don't we have the right to say no?" Akers asked.
Hobson said the site was chosen largely because of its accessibility to public transportation, the quality of life the neighborhood could provide, and the relatively cheap property costs of the transitional area.
The South End is being considered for a number of controversial projects, including a strip club zone in SODO and a new trash dump in Georgetown, a representative from city councilwoman Sally Clark's office recognized.
"The South End tends to get a number of programs and facilities that have negative connotations attached to them. They're all coming from different departments and organizations, so you couldn't say there's a conspiracy, but I understand the concern," Clark's aide David Yeaworth said.
The Office of Housing said the area has not been overburdened with homeless housing.
"The city of Seattle has successfully funded housing for homeless people all across the city. The bulk of this housing is in downtown and North Seattle. The South End really doesn't have that much; we aren't picking on this area," Nelson said.
Some neighbors, including Jonathan Rosenblum, said that all communities must do what they can to help Seattle accomplish its ten-year plan to end homelessness.
"I wish my neighbors would try to put this on a more human level and think about people who have lost their jobs and suffer from illnesses. The first step is to get them a place to put their heads down. That makes it easier to get a job and find stability. These people will be in our community no matter what. It's better to have them in homes than on the street," Rosenblum said.
Business concerns
Some neighbors said they'd be willing to accept the project if it were smaller and took up less property that may become prime commercial space in the coming years.
"Eighty units is huge, and I can't even think of any other four-story buildings in the neighborhood," said Bogdana Manole, who lives near the site. "It makes me wonder if businesses will want to come in around it."
DESC and city departments are discussing the possibility of modifying building plans to address community concerns that the proposed facility could stunt economic rejuvenation.
"We're meeting with the city office of housing because I keep hearing that the community wants us to reconsider the size and to put in ground-level storefronts," Hobson said.
Another common complaint from some community members has been DESC's handling of the process of notifying neighbors of the site plans.
LeAnne Nelson said the DESC met the Seattle Office of Housing's standards for informing the community.
"They were required to distribute fliers to all locations within 300 feet of the prospective site, and they did," Nelson said.
But meeting this standard wasn't sufficient for residents within and beyond the 300-feet zone who felt they found out about the project with little time to research it before its funding reviews, Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle, said in a phone interview.
"They did abide by the 300-foot rule, but I'm sorry, that's not enough. This is Seattle; we have a fantastic level of civic involvement. DESC should have made a better effort," said Kline, who has tried to moderate the debate between his angry constituents and DESC.
Kline, like Hobson, said he hopes community members will get past their dissatisfaction with the notification process and cooperate with DESC.
"I'm sorry if this feels like it's going very fast. It is going fast," Hobson said, "But we're ready to reconsider our design to accommodate the community. I'd like to see it slow down and have the neighbors work with us."
For more information about the project, visit www.desc.org or call the Downtown Emergency Services Center's executive director Bill Hobson at (206) 515-1525.
Denise Miller may be contacted via editor@sdistrictjournal.com.
[[In-content Ad]]
