Grants Pass backs out of latest homeless plan amid pushback

GRANTS PASS, Ore. —Dozens of community members came out to Wednesday night’s Grants Pass City Council meeting to oppose the city’s newest plan for a homeless navigation center. Now the city council is making the decision to not move forward with the site.

We told you over the weekend, Grants Pass had found a site for its proposed low-barrier shelter and navigation center. But now it’s back to the drawing board after the site was met with pushback.

A week after Grants Pass made a preliminary offer to buy the former Elks Lodge building on Southwest K Street to provide shelter for the homeless, the plan is being scrapped. It’s centrally located, which helps people with limited transportation.

“It would benefit the community and address people facing unhoused issues in Grants Pass,” said Grant Pass City Council President, Joel King.

But during Wednesday night’s city council meeting, even though the topic wasn’t on the agenda, community members came out against the plan during public comment.

“Putting this camp in the middle of town was supposed to be a tourist city, nobody is going to want to come here,” said one concerned resident.

Mayor Sara Bristol says around 50 people spoke, with the majority against the proposal.  A few businesses voiced concern about their proximity to the navigation center. One of those was Brent Kehoe, Executive Director of Heartland Dance Studio.

“Coming in 2023 we’ll be seeing passionate dancers leaving out building in tutus, hand in hand with their younger siblings, so I need to convey whether is it really appropriate to place a shelter with struggling citizens as they begin their recovery from alcohol and addiction,” said Kehoe.

The process of finding a permanent location for the shelter has been bumpy over the last year and a half. To find a solid location for the center, even though the city has a million dollars to spend. AllCare Community Foundation was eyeing property on Nebraska Avenue, near the fairgrounds. Neighbors, there also pushed back, as it’s close to a school.

Rogue Retreat had been tapped to operate it, but the non-profit pulled out because of its ongoing leadership change in the summer.

Now the city council is back to the drawing board, trying to find a location for something the city says is a priority.

“We thought there might be other avenues that might be socially acceptable and serve the need as well and we also want to listen to the citizens,” said King.

The city says UCAN has expressed interest in operating a potential new site once it’s found.  It’s still actively looking for properties, nothing is on the table yet.

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Jenna King is the 6pm and 11pm anchor for NBC5 News. Jenna is a Burbank, CA native. She graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in Broadcast Journalism and a minor in Sports Business. During her time at Oregon she was part of the student-run television station, Duck TV. She also grew her passion for sports through her internship with the PAC 12 Network. When Jenna is not in the newsroom you can find her rooting for her hometown Dodgers, exploring the outdoors or binging on the latest Netflix release.
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