Anaheim moves ahead with one homeless shelter, delays vote on a second one
A 200-bed homeless shelter in Anaheim to be run by the Salvation Army will go forward with city approval, but a second shelter for 125 more people on La Palma Avenue is on hold until at least Nov. 20 so city officials can address concerns and potentially consider other sites.
The two shelters are part of a settlement to a lawsuit filed against the county and several cities by a homeless advocacy group and several homeless people. The shelters are intended to be temporary until the Salvation Army opens a permanent 400-bed shelter at its Lewis Street property.
The Anaheim City Council on Tuesday voted to sign a contract with the Salvation Army to spend up to $14 million to build and operate the temporary shelter, which is expected to open early next year and will have case managers, recovery counselors, full-time security and other staff on site. The series of modular buildings will go on vacant land next to a residential jobs program the Salvation Army currently operates.
The council also was poised to approve plans to buy a building on La Palma Avenue for $4.9 million, convert it to a shelter and hire the nonprofit Illumination Foundation to run it, but delayed a decision after nearby business owners complained and a property owner suggested the city consider a different available site.
“You guys haven’t given us enough time to talk about this,” said Dilip Punjabi, whose business, Ace Products, is a few doors away from the La Palma building, which houses a cabinet business. “Now I’m going to be disrupted day in and day out.”
Chris Vance, who owns a piano store across from the Bridges at Kraemer Place shelter roughly two miles from the La Palma building, said he’d like to talk to the city about buying his property.
Members of Housing is a Human Right OC, an advocacy group, criticized the shelter plans as a poor long-term solution and said the city should focus its time and money on permanent housing.
Not everyone opposed the plans, however.
“I think it’s high time that the city provided the shelter beds for these people that are camping in our parks,” said Bill Postma, a city resident since 1962.
While temporary shelters won’t solve all homeless issues, “I’m very optimistic” about what the city proposals, he said.