Yaniz proposes to move shelter to Big Coppitt

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

Key West City Commissioner Tony Yaniz, a stalwart proponent of reducing services to the city’s homeless population, is proposing to relocate the current overnight shelter on Stock Island to Big Coppitt Key.

Yaniz directed city staff to look into acquiring a parcel of land off Boca Chica Road on Big Coppitt Key that is owned by the U.S. Navy but which is not currently being used. Under U.S. law, a municipality can ask the federal government to turn over an unused property within its city limits and “the federal government will usually oblige,” Yaniz said. The property in question is approximately two to three acres in size, with existing water and electric systems in place.

“So what I’d like, if the [City Commission] dais will indulge me, is to have you or someone look at the feasibility of asking the federal government for that as a proposed homeless shelter,” Yaniz told City Planner Don Craig at the Aug. 19 City Commission meeting.

Craig said his office had already begun an initial investigation into the Boca Chica Road site, including looking at the size of the parcel and property appraisal records.

“We just have to dig deep into that,” Craig said. “Obviously we have to sit with the city attorney to understand what the obligation and requirements are of that federal law. We will do that analysis.”

Yaniz has made multiple complaints over the years about the growing number of homeless men and women who roam the streets in Key West. He has advocated providing only the bare minimum of services required under federal law and has proposed moving homeless individuals out of the current overnight shelter on College Road on Stock Island into a series of tents with portable toilet facilities but no showers.

The city is currently looking for a new home for its Keys Overnight Temporary Shelter (KOTS) on College Road to settle a lawsuit filed by its next-door neighbor, condominium owners at Sunset Marina. Marina owners objected to the influx of homeless into their neighborhood every evening and then again the next morning when the shelter closes for the day.

One possible KOTS relocation site, also on College Road but further from the Marina condos, is the former Easter Seals building. But Yaniz on Tuesday proposed looking at that five-acre site as a future location for affordable workforce housing. Acting City Manager Jim Scholl said that the Easter Seals building property, 5224 College Road, which also houses the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District offices, is large enough to build approximately 110 units of affordable housing.

“That’s the rough numbers,” Scholl told the commission. “That land could be purchased through the Land Authority and then the Key West Housing Authority [could] manage it for workforce housing.”

Commissioner Jimmy Weekley referred to a study done by the University of Florida in the 1990s that estimated Key West needed an additional 1,300 units of affordable housing to meet the demand.

“I know we’ve made some inroads. But obviously we haven’t made enough of the inroads to really break the cycle of the challenges of affordability of our workforce. I experience it every day from the employees who work for me,” Weekley said. “I think that’s another part of the goal we need to be striving for. Not just meeting the criteria of affordability we have in place now, but to be able to actually provide housing for middle-management positions, for those who work in the service industry… to be able to use at least 25 percent of their income for housing.”

“I will tell you we’ve been talking about it for over 60 years and I truly believe this commission has the courage to take if from the talk to the walk,” Yaniz responded to Weekley’s remarks.

 

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