Commissions to revisit former Easter Seals site for homeless shelter

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

 

Despite a failed attempt last October to move the Key West overnight homeless shelter into the former Easter Seals building on College Road, some Key West City Commissioners and City Manager Jim Scholl plan to bring the idea back.

 

Commissioners deadlocked 3-3 on Oct. 7 on a resolution to move the shelter, which houses a maximum of 140 people a night, to the former Easter Seals building on College Road. The tie vote effectively killed that proposal, which was sponsored by Mayor Craig Cates and supported by commissioners Teri Johnston and Jimmy Weekley.

 

Johnston said she has placed another resolution on the upcoming Feb. 3 city commission agenda to try to squeeze the proposal through. At the October 7 meeting, Commissioner Mark Rossi was absent.

 

“After extensive debate and research, it [former Easter Seals building] consistently comes up as the top property. We have yet to find another location that’s suitable,” she said, adding, “We have to make a decision. It’s been two years.”

 

Johnston was referring to a lawsuit the city lost to the owners of the Sunset Marina homeowners association, which successfully sued the city in 2011 over its decision to put the Keys Overnight Temporary Shelter (KOTS) in its current location on College Road next to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department building. The court agreed that the city had ignored its own permitting processes when it opened KOTS at that site.

 

City Attorney Shawn Smith has been urging commissioners to take action on the relocation decision, pointing out that the city has already missed one deadline under the settlement with the Sunset Marina association. The next deadline requires the city to have a finalized shelter development plan in front of the Key West Planning Board in February.

 

“Of all the potential properties, that [former Easter Seals site] is the one that has the best potential to provide the level of service we need to continue to do,” Scholl said on Jan. 21. “We own the property. And because of the provision we have with the Key West Land Authority, there are dollars we can use. The Land Authority could buy the property and we could reinvest the money and use it for development of the property.”

 

But convincing the commissioners who voted against the proposal in October to change their minds will likely be difficult. Commissioner Tony Yaniz, who regularly complains about the level of services the city and county provide to the local homeless population, emphatically said he would not change his vote. He said there are other potential sites that could be better developed into an overnight shelter, including a city-owned parcel on Rockland Key.

 

“Frankly, where I think we’re missing the boat is we haven’t fully vetted every site. We’ve gotten no help from the county. I don’t think we’ve looked at every possible option that’s out there,” he said.

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