Kansas City’s right to build a homeless camp. But why not build public support, too?

Kansas City officials had to know they were never going to make neighbors happy with a proposed new temporary homeless community of “tiny homes.” But they seem intent on angering as many people as possible.

Let’s see if I can summarize the proceedings succinctly.

One City Council committee last Wednesday approved the proposed one-year $2.7 million “Verge: A Pallet Community” to house up to 200 homeless folks in nearly 100 small cabins called pallet homes. The same day, another council committee approved an ordinance allowing the city manager to place such city-sanctioned homeless communities on any land the city owns or controls, regardless of zoning.

The latter has Councilwoman Katheryn Shields and several of her colleagues greatly alarmed. Shields blocked final council action on the pallet homes last Thursday, but it should come back up this Thursday.

“It’s open zoning citywide for homeless camps that will be determined administratively with no appeal anywhere,” Shields warned. “They’re going to treat siting a homeless shelter, with these semipermanent pallet houses, as if it’s the same as a garage sale.”

Certainly I don’t think the city administration will be able to just put the homeless community anywhere, thanks to optics and public pressure. But the power granted to city bureaucrats in the zoning ordinance — which also might come up Thursday — is stunningly broad and dismissive of other property owners.

Consider: Plans for the encampment acknowledge that it would or could include portable bathrooms, and that, “A gathering space with seating may be provided on site. A fence surrounding the site, security and lighting will be required. A gravel parking lot may be required.”

I actually support such an encampment if done right. I’m just thinking that property owners might be interested in knowing the particulars ahead of time. Including where it might be located.

Although, a property owner’s knowing or even opposing the particulars may not matter to the city: Shields says at least one downtown business has been notified by the city manager’s office that a site has been chosen at a vacant city lot at 700 E. 12th Street in the East Village area, notably without either public input or official notice.

City Manager Brian Platt, who sure seems like a stand-up guy, assures me that no location is set, and that stakeholder conversations and community outreach have been going on since April and will continue.

That’s a good thing, because I don’t think everyone’s gotten the memo.

I understand the need to get around the “not in my backyard” problem. But if you’re building a camp for the homeless, which is a pretty noble thing to do, you needn’t shy away from building public support for it. I expect Platt to be as good as his word on that.

‘No one is more liberal in this city than Katheryn Shields’

Shields warned the city administration that area businesses, nearby federal agencies and others won’t react well to not only having the project foisted on them, but also without much if any discussion with them. Indeed, I learned Monday that federal agencies were scheduled to meet privately that afternoon to discuss security concerns about the project.

To further illustrate the public’s unheard concerns on the matter, the Downtown Council Executive Committee asked Shields and another council member in a May email for “an immediate meeting” on the pallet homes project. “We request more dialogue and understanding before this project moves any further,” the organization said in its email.

Also Monday, Shields released a letter warning about the situation, saying in part, “By granting unlimited and unappealable power to staff in the selection of locations for camps that could house hundreds of persons — without regard to the impact of such sites on our residential zoning and our businesses — we risk serious consequences to our individual property values and our economy.”

This is pretty remarkable, since Shields acknowledges that, “No one is more liberal in this city than Katheryn Shields. I want to help the homeless people. But that doesn’t mean we have to leave our common sense at the door.

“You’re not helping the homeless if you don’t have a serious plan. You know what? If you’re truly liberal, what you want to do is actually help the people, not just appear to help people.”

I recently chronicled some of the problems the city caused for itself in hastily sweeping participants in homeless camps outside City Hall and in Westport into hotel rooms.

What, if anything, has been learned?