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Medford council cool to more homeless villages Friday Apr 27, 2018 at 4:36 PM Apr 27, 2018 at 5:02 PM Damian Mann Mail Tribune @reporterdm A proposal to create up to six tiny house villages in Medford for homeless people didn’t gain a lot of traction with the City Council Thursday. Instead, councilors expressed interest in approaching other cities and the county to step up in dealing with the homeless problem and potentially create their own versions of Hope Village, which now consists of 14 tiny houses in west Medford. The council, which met to discuss possible changes to local land-use codes associated with homeless shelters and housing, expressed caution about where to allow temporary warming or cooling shelters, similar to the existing Kelly Shelter, which houses 50 people overnight in the winter near the west end of downtown. They also didn’t like the idea of housing the homeless without rehabilitating them. “I’m not into warehousing people,” Councilor Dick Gordon said. “It has to be more than housing people at night.” But Rogue Retreat, a homeless advocacy group, has had some success setting up a case management system at both the Kelly Shelter and at Hope Village to help people get off drugs, into jobs and to help them find more permanent housing. “We will always have the case management piece as long as there is funding,” said Chad McComas of Rogue Retreat. Since Hope Village opened last year, it has found more permanent situations for homeless people, including just last week when a couple living in the tiny house village moved into an apartment, McComas said. At the Kelly Shelter, 34 people found a more permanent situation from January to March, McComas said. Although it closed for the season at the end of March, the shelter’s case manager system has continued to help three other people get off the streets. Councilor Kay Brooks noted that shelters are sometimes an effort to get people off the streets in extreme weather conditions, not necessarily as a means to rehabilitate people. “If we’re talking about saving peoples’ lives, that’s what we’re talking about,” she said. Despite some hesitation in expanding homeless housing, the council did agree to continue studying the issue as long as there is outreach to other cities and the county, with requests that they join in the effort. Under state law, cities can have two urban campgrounds that don’t have to meet the same standards as regular housing, which requires water, electricity and a sewer connection. Because Hope Village occupies two adjacent property parcels, the city may not be able to have an additional tiny house area for the homeless. Planning and legal staff indicated it would look into the state law and reach out to legislators to determine whether it would be possible to have more than two parcels within a city for transitional housing such as Hope Village. Matt Brinkley, Medford planning director, said the city’s Planning Department has developed proposed rules related to transitional and short-term housing for the 250 or so homeless people who currently don’t have a roof over their head at night. One of the suggestions was to not allow tent or yurt villages within the city. Another was to have a 500-foot buffer between temporary overnight facilities. The council discussed a number of options outlining where overnight shelters could be located, including around commercial or industrial areas. Councilors thought a buffer near residential areas might be appropriate, and also worried about allowing shelters in churches or other non-profit organizations located in residential areas. However, requiring a buffer area could affect the Kelly Shelter, located in the basement of First United Methodist Church on Main Street, near residences. When they have no shelter locally, homeless people often find places near or in downtown Medford where they can camp, sometimes in alleys, under bridges or along the Bear Creek Greenway. According to Medford police, the Kelly Shelter, which was open from January to March, made a significant dent in problems for downtown merchants. In addition to offering 50 people a place to stay each night, Rogue Retreat found a place for many of the homeless to stay during the day. Councilors Kim Wallan, Tim Jackle, Mike Zarosinski, Tim D’Alessandro and Dick Gordon as well as Mayor Gary Wheeler expressed the most concern about allowing additional homeless villages, while councilors Kay Brooks and Clay Bearnson sounded their support for them. “I invite any councilor to go to Hope Village and see the bogeyman isn’t poking out of the bushes,” Bearnson said. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 541-776-4476 or [email protected]. Follow him on www.twitter.com/reporterdm.