(The Center Square) – Local service providers may soon face new standards before opening homeless facilities after the Spokane City Council proposed a policy on Monday that it rejected only months ago.
Councilmember Michael Cathcart initially proposed the siting process last summer. If approved, his policy would raise the standards around opening city-funded services through legally binding agreements and expanded outreach, which some officials argue would limit access to services.
With the support of his peers, Councilmember Zack Zappone shot the idea down last September, citing an upcoming series of community roundtables on the topic. While the policy is unpopular among the council majority, business owners, residents and some providers offered support during the talks.
“I think it’s important that we have binding good neighbor agreements,” Cathcart told the council during a Monday committee meeting. “We need to have a strategy and a process in place that allows for a more thoughtful way to go about these, not to mention a transparent one.”
Councilmember Jonathan Bingle, who sits on the conservative minority with Cathcart, reintroduced a separate policy last month that was also rejected by the majority in September. With the community’s support, both have a better shot at passing, though some on the majority remain skeptical.
Local law already requires good neighbor agreements for city-owned facilities, but this proposal would also expand that to city-funded ones. Much of Spokane’s new scattered-site shelter model is city-funded but not city-owned, allowing providers to bypass the requirement.
The city was previously a party in a good neighbor agreement over the infamous Trent Shelter. However, the document states it’s “not legally enforceable in court, nor is it intended to be.”
“What community engagement has this version of the ordinance gone through?” Zappone asked, despite the series of roundtables last fall that carried into December.
Cathcart’s proposal would require the site operator, neighborhood council, local businesses, the Spokane Police Department, Code Enforcement, other city representatives, external funding partners, and nearby residents and property owners to enter into a legally binding agreement.
All parties would meet at least once a month to maintain frequent contact and hold each other accountable. Other goals include procedures for conflict resolution, neighborhood investments, crime reduction, maintaining public safety, “livability” and fostering a welcoming environment.
“Have I done any roundtables downtown?” Cathcart responded to Zappone. “No, I’ve not done any roundtables downtown, but I’ve talked to a number of folks who are really just sick and tired of the lack of transparency and absolute willingness, without any protections, to push facilities that don’t always belong.”
The policy also requires the parties to host a website with information on the facility and the services offered there. That would include contacts for each party and a copy of the contract.
Other noteworthy provisions would require at least one public outreach meeting, a published list of alternative locations, and the council’s approval before siting or opening city-funded homeless facilities.
“There were a number of recommendations that came forward from those roundtables that we as a body seem to not particularly like and won’t be taking forward,” Bingle said, “so if we’re going to be using that as a reason to oppose something, I think that should be consistent across all of our homelessness ordinances.”
The council will likely vote on adopting Cathcart’s policy during a meeting sometime next month.
