Proposed pallet shelter site too far from services

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, July 13, 2022

In the recent about a new pallet shelter village (“Everett eyeing Sievers Duecy city land for new shelter village,” The Herald, June 30) it reads: “Between all ZIP codes and counties, 98201 is the number one ZIP code leading the request for shelter and housing in the state of Washington.”

OK, I don’t have a problem with providing temporary shelter or housing to “serve moms with children,” but the last time I looked, that location is more than three miles south of the southern border of the 98201 ZIP code. What, you don’t want them cluttering up downtown area so you’re shipping them off out of sight?

Plus, that undeveloped site is going to take a lot of work to accommodate those pallet shelters plus the construction of accompanying office, food storage/distribution unit, meeting hall, bath facilities, etc., more semi-permanent than temporary as the proposal stands. And it’s still out in the middle of nowhere, a good 10-30 minute bus ride to stores, downtown, etc.

My alternative is to buy the Travelodge by Wyndham at the corner of Pacific and Broadway. It already has over 24 units which are at least as big as the pallets and already have separate bath facilities. A big plus is the future occupants will be literally within walking distance of city and county health and welfare offices as well as numerous restaurants and grocery stores. And occupation could probably be within months instead of ‘in 2023’ for the proposed site.

Let’s not jump into this because there’s this undeveloped piece of land out there that really isn’t suitable for a whole lot of anything; let’s think about the needs of the occupants instead of what is a quick and easy solution.

Fabian Borowiecki

Everett