SALT LAKE CITY — A moratorium halting new homeless shelters from being built in Salt Lake City may be lifted next week.
Last April, Salt Lake City blocked any new shelters within city limits.
“I think it's important to know that the moratorium was always intended to be temporary,” said Salt Lake City Councilman Darin Mano.
On Tuesday, Mano said the hold may be lifted during the city council meeting.
“We're not approving any specific shelters right now or any specific locations,” he said, “But it's changing the overall law and the process under which new shelters can be placed in the city.”
Mano and Mayor Erin Mendenhall said there are concerns with the previous process in which permits were granted.
“The way that we've done it before only allowed for homeless resource centers to be in three zones in the city,” said Mendenhall, “They were very constricted to a limited area.”
The mayor said they used the past year to reevaluate how and where the centers should be permitted.
“It was a moment for us to regroup,” said Mendenhall, “And decide how can we put more reality into the context of these applications. For example, are they close to a transit center? Are there food locations nearby?”
The new process would give the city council more input in the decision-making when it comes to new shelters and resource centers.
“Some of the things that the city council can do that the planning commission cannot do is look at things like: What does the street lighting look like? What is the sidewalk infrastructure? What are some of those ancillary things outside of the boundaries of the actual project itself?”
The Nomad Alliance, a nonprofit that works with unsheltered Utahns, said it’s about time the moratorium is lifted.
“I do think it's heinous that Mendenhall put a moratorium on new shelter beds available and because people died, dozens died this winter, unnecessarily because of bureaucracy and quagmire,” said Kseniya Kniaveva, the executive director of the Nomad Alliance.
Kniaveva said she appreciates the efforts to expand locations within the city for homeless shelters.
“There should be a small resource center in every neighborhood,” said Kniaveva.
At the same time, she said the focus needs to be on increasing the quality of care in shelters that are already here.
“I think if you do expand the shelter model, they need to be smaller,” she said. “There needs to be more case management. There needs to be really good public transportation. It needs to be permanent support of housing. There needs to be options for them to get the mental health care, the physical health care, all of their IDs and their paperwork.”
Mano said he is ready to play a more active role in giving resources to the unsheltered.
“We as a city, I as a council member, want to be a city that supports the unsheltered and that will create the resources when necessary,” said Mano, “And Salt Lake City is ready to do that again through a new process."
