Huntington Beach postpones vote on revised homeless shelter proposal
The Huntington Beach City Council has postponed a vote on a proposed homeless shelter for at least two weeks, City Manager Fred Wilson said Wednesday, April 10.
“Things have been moving quickly, and we are just not ready,” Wilson said.
Rather than set a possible vote on the item for April 15, the City Council and staff members will discuss the shelter in a study session at 3:30 that afternoon.
“We encourage the public to attend,” Wilson said. “We will recap where we are now on the shelter and on the purchase of the building.”
The city also will share information with residents at an open house from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, April 13, at the Huntington Beach Central Library.
Earlier this week, the city reported it is considering an 11,200-square-foot warehouse at 15311 Pipeline Lane to house a 75- to 90-bed shelter facility.
That announcement came one week after the City Council was scheduled to vote on a site next to Marina High – a plan squelched by public outcry. The revised location, also in north Huntington Beach, is almost a mile from the school.
The owner of the largely vacant building is willing to sell, Wilson said, adding that no other option for a location has emerged.
“We have scoured the city, and that is the only other building we have been able to identify for a shelter,” Wilson said. “The judge wants us to move quickly.”
Overseeing a lawsuit filed on behalf of homeless people, U.S. District Judge David O. Carter ordered Orange County and several local cities to provide housing for 60 percent of their total homeless population based on a 2017 count. For Huntington Beach, that number was 119 people – meaning that it needs to produce at least 72 beds.
Furthermore, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year that cities cannot enforce anti-encampment ordinances unless they offer alternatives to sleeping outside.
Called a Navigation Center, the shelter would house adult men, women and couples – providing services including health care, counseling and job training.
The shelter would not accept walk-ins or allow people to leave without notice, nor would it accept registered sex offenders or people with open felony warrants, the city said in a statement.