By The Herald Editorial Board
It would be unfair — and unproductive — to dismiss this as the typical “not in my backyard” opposition that many land-use proposals face.
The objections that Everett city officials and other supporters of a “housing first” development in central Everett are hearing from prospective neighbors shouldn’t have come as a surprise. At least for Everett and Snohomish County, this is a new approach that is unfamiliar to many. The anxiety is understandable.
The city proposes to build a 70-unit apartment complex on Berkshire Drive on city-owned land that would then be turned over to the management of Catholic Housing Services and its sister agency, Catholic Community Services to house the chronically homeless. Using a housing-first or low-barrier approach, the apartment units would be open to those who have been homeless for at least a year or have been without stable housing four times in the last three years.
As the chronically homeless often suffer with mental illness or addictions, the program does not require residents be sober or in treatment before being admitted. Those programs exist, but they’re not seen as effective for all who are chronically homeless.
It’s unrealistic to expect someone who doesn’t have the stability of a home to begin the process of finding the services and supports needed for sobriety and recovery, says Everett City Council member Cassie Franklin, who is the CEO of Cocoon House, which works with homeless and other at-risk youths. “There’s a near-zero chance of success,” she said.
The project, say Franklin and others, including Mayor Ray Stephanson and Hil Kaman, the city’s director of Public Health and Safety, will provide residents that stability, allowing staff with the two Catholic services group to provide access to treatment options and programs that would allow residents to begin steps toward personal goals of health, employment and being part of the community. Along with the 70 apartment units, the complex would include space for case management and on-site services. And at least two residential support staff would be on duty at all hours.
While this is new to Everett and the wider county, it’s been proven successful elsewhere, first in Salt Lake City, Utah, where the concept was pioneered, and more recently in this state in Seattle, Bellingham and Bellevue.
Residents in the neighborhoods near where the complex would be built — Glacier View, Pinehurst, South Forest Park and View Ridge-Madison — have complained that the decision on where to build the apartments was made without adequate notice or consultation, and Mayor Stephanson admits the city should have started talking with neighborhood groups earlier than it did. But Stephanson and others are convinced that the proposed location is the one best suited for the project of almost 40 sites considered. A block off Evergreen Way, it’s within walking distance of retail shops and routes for Everett Transit and Community Transit’s Swift bus lines.
Catholic Housing Services has also reviewed the site, finding it well-suited to its needs and the success of its clients. It would not have agreed to participate, Kaman said, unless the agency believed the site would work.
As to concerns that the complex could attract crime and other problems often associated with homelessness and addiction, the reason such facilities work is because they separate residents from drug dealers and others who prey upon them when they are homeless. The facility, Kaman said, will have a secure entrance, allowing access only to residents, staff and approved guests.
As well, Stephanson said, the city has been rebuilding its police department ranks; five officers, working with two social workers, are focused on street issues, the mayor said, which includes the housing-first project.
Stephanson said the city also is committed to neighborhood public works projects in the neighborhoods, including sidewalks, traffic improvements, street beautification and parks. The city has set aside $1 million, Stephanson said, for playground equipment for a park that would be located at the former Everett School District property where the Everett YMCA is building its new facility. Some might see that as an attempt to sweeten the pot, but improvements to livability help instill a sense of pride in a neighborhood in all residents, long-term and newcomers.
The investment in a modern and well-maintained apartment complex, along with other improvements in the neighborhood, should allay concerns that property values will decline.
There’s a long process yet ahead. Assuming the City Council gives its approval for the project to move ahead this Wednesday night, a year-long permitting process would begin. Construction isn’t expected to begin until September of 2017 and would take a year to complete.
During that time the city and the project’s supporters will need to continue their conversations with neighboring residents, addressing their concerns and considering their suggestions.
Everett, under the leadership of Stephanson and many others, has worked to enact this and other recommendations of the Streets Initiative that the city adopted two years ago. Ignoring the city’s homeless is not an option; doing so has proved costly in terms of expense to law enforcement, emergency services and the health care system. And it has been especially costly in terms of the lives lost.
City officials have a list of 114 individuals living on Everett streets in chronic homeless. Seventy units of housing will put a significant dent in that list, but this shouldn’t be the only such facility that Everett, or other communities in Snohomish County, build.
Without such facilities, the worst effects of homelessness — on the community and the homeless, themselves — will continue.
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