ASHLAND, Ore. – A project in the works in Ashland aims to get families off the streets and into tiny homes. However, some of the potential neighbors aren’t too happy about the new proposal.
The Ashland Tiny House Group is working to create a transitional housing service for families who have nowhere to go.
Director Karen Logan said she’s looking at Ashland because of the high cost of rent. “It’s pretty easy for a single mom to be evicted and then she can end up on the street because she can’t afford to place herself in Ashland.”
The group put in an offer to buy and lease land along Valard and Clay Streets from the city. If all goes as planned the group will build 12 to 15 tiny houses.
The corner lot will be used to build a community kitchen, laundry, bathrooms and 5 to 6 bedrooms.
While most agree they want homeless people off the street, neighbors NBC5 News spoke with have reservations. “My concern is this is a high crime area, we’ve had our bikes stolen eight times,” said Cindy Bauman. “We’ve also had some neighbors dealing drugs. And the aftermath of that has been really intense.
To ease their concerns, organizers said they’re being very specific about who they let into the new community.
Bauman said, “Our priority will be placed on people who have at least three community connections so that would be have a job, have a kid in school, a reference from volunteering, something like that.”
And once they are in the tiny homes, trained staff will be monitoring the village. “Tiny house area will be fenced, and then the shared facility will have two on-site staff people,” Bauman explained.
But that’s not enough for neighbors, who plan to reach out to other neighbors of Medford’s Hope Village to see how that small community has affected their neighborhood.
The group has put in an offer to purchase the land. Right now it’s waiting to hear if they will receive a grant from the city.
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