YWCA seeks home for homeless shelter

Sep. 22—CLINTON — A new location for the YWCA supportive housing project is being sought, following the Sept. 12 City Council vote that denied rezoning of the original site on the 600 block of North Third Street from residential to commercial.

"To say I'm disappointed would be an understatement," United Way of Clinton County Executive Director Andy Green told The Herald on Wednesday. "Not only is the City Council turning away over four million dollars in capital investments for our city, but what is the message not only to the homeless population of Clinton but to those of us trying to help?"

The vote occurred after last month's public hearing that lasted nearly two hours. The vote following that hearing had been postponed until Councilmember Ron Mussmann, who was absent due to an emergency health issue, would have returned.

"Since May 11 of this year, the homelessness problem has only gotten worse," Green said, "and with this vote, the city has told us that no help is coming."

Councilmembers Bill Schemers, Gregg Obren and Eartha Davis voted in favor of the first of three readings of the rezoning ordinance, while Councilmembers Rhonda Kearns, Pat Determan and Mussmann opposed. Councilmember Cody Seeley abstained from the vote.

The ordinance cannot again be presented again until a new Council has been seated.

In late 2021, the YWCA received a $4.4 million grant from the Iowa Finance Authority to fund the project in the specified location where a gas station had previously been located.

"It is the YWCA's understanding that the deadline is the end of November and there is a limited window that we believe the Iowa Finance Authority will work with the city of Clinton before rescinding the $4.4 million award," YWCA Executive Director Shannon Sander-Welzien said. "It's important that we work together to find a solution and quickly."

The city of Clinton had committed $500,000 to the project in June 2021, while Clinton County pledged $250,000 along with the county-owned project site.

Clinton Mayor Scott Maddasion said at the Sept. 12 meeting that the Council had supported the project and its location a year ago and that he'd signed the resolution of support with the contingency of the rezoning of the site. He stated that he was conflicted, though, and could see the need for the project while also sympathizing with the site's neighboring residents who oppose the location.

Iowa Finance Authority Director Debi Durham, he said, had confirmed that denial of the rezoning would potentially put the entire project at risk, but he also didn't want the city to have a "black eye" in the view of the state that could cause losing out on future opportunities.

Several others vocalized their stances on the matter, including Clinton resident Carl Nord who said to the Council that passing the ordinance would send the message that spot-zoning could be done anywhere in the city and, subsequently, that a "drug and rehab center," "halfway house," or "juvenile detention center" could be placed in any neighborhood.

YWCA Attorney John Frey said the objectors admit the project is needed but they just don't want it near them.

Clinton resident Diane Doyle told the Council that several residents living alone in the neighborhood were concerned for their safety and would want to purchase firearms for protection.

Pathway Living Center employee Donna Santiago stated that the project would give people opportunities to build new lives and that the people needing help were human beings.

Schemers shared at length experiences he'd had involving people who were homeless during his 47-year-long career in law enforcement in Arizona, adding that residents of supportive housing units tended to be crime victims rather than perpetrators.

"The City Council's vote puts the project in jeopardy," Sander-Welzien says. "We have a short timeline and even smaller map to find an alternate site that Iowa Finance Authority may approve."

Any potential new site will need to be on the same HUD Census Tract and pass a HUD National Housing Trust Fund environmental process.

"We went through the process of determining a location, meeting all the guidelines two years ago, before applying for the award" Sander-Welzien says. "So in essence we are back to square one again but with less options now due to census tract limitations."

The estimated $5 million project involves the construction of a 24-unit, 18,100-square-foot facility designed by Hatch Development Group out of Des Moines to integrate well within the surrounding community.

In addition to stipulations required for projects addressing homelessness such as proximity to bus lines and other resources that make supportive housing successful, Sander-Welzien says, the general requirements for HUD-funded new construction projects include those pertaining to, among others, historic preservation, farmlands, airport zones, floodplains, hazards, contaminates, noise levels and safe drinking water.

At the Sept. 18 meeting of the Clinton County Board of Supervisors that Nord attended, he posed a question to Supervisors Dan Srp, Erin George, and Chairman Jim Irwin regarding what's now to happen with the property on North Third Street that the county has owned for the past approximately four years.

"I understand you have money set aside to do this project," Nord said. "My question is what is a timeline that you are going to have to get this here parking lot put in so it doesn't decrease the value of the neighborhood."

Irwin explained that the process of paving the site to be utilized as parking as was initially planned had begun and gravel had been added to the site to bring the ground up to sidewalk-level, but the project was put on hold for about the last year and a half until decisions regarding the supportive housing project had been made by the city.

Srp responded that the Supervisors would soon hold discussions on whether they'd return to satisfying the terms of the original plan. If so, breaking ground would hopefully occur again next spring or summer.