Portland councilors recommend no cap on new shelter’s capacity

A City Council committee on Tuesday night avoided setting a cap on the number of beds that will be provided at Portland’s new homeless shelter, recommending that it has “ample capacity to handle our current average nightly census for the previous 12 months.”

The average nightly census for the previous 12 months, as of Sept. 30, for the Oxford Street Shelter is 210 homeless people, according to data provided by the Health & Human Services and Public Safety Committee.

Members of the committee discussed the matter for two hours Tuesday night before voting 3-0 on the resolution, which also recommended that the new facility have “adequate capacity to handle overflow” on an as-needed basis.

The committee recommendation, which will be forwarded to the full City Council for consideration at its Monday night meeting, does not establish a specific number of shelter beds, leaving the city with some flexibility about its capacity. The resolution also avoids limits on the number of people coming from outside Portland to seek beds – a controversial restriction that had been previously discussed.

The City Council needs to establish some sort of capacity guidelines so that a new shelter can be designed and built at 654 Riverside St.

The new shelter will replace an outdated shelter on Oxford Street in Portland that has routinely exceeded 200 people a night in recent years.

Belinda Ray, who chairs the Health & Human Services and Public Safety Committee, presented her colleagues with three options Tuesday evening, one of which proposed setting a cap of 200 beds at the new shelter. Ray and Councilors Brian Batson and Pious Ali bypassed the cap option, instead voting to support a flex option that would allow staff to find sleeping accommodations in a designated overflow area if all of the shelter beds are occupied.

“The plan is to have overflow capacity on site, a space where more beds or mats could be put down,” Ray said. The overflow space might be a day room or office, which would be designed as part of the Riverside Street shelter.

Ray is confident that the shelter staff will accommodate anyone in need of shelter, even if the facility has reached capacity.

“They will scramble to make sure no one gets left out in the cold or rain. They’re not going to leave anyone outside or slam the door on someone,” Ray told Ali, who expressed concerns that someone might be turned away.

The Portland Fire Department set the capacity of the Oxford Street Shelter at 154 beds in 2000. Since then the city has been forced to use other housing alternatives to accommodate overflow crowds of homeless people.

The Salvation Army gym has been used since 2003 and 75 floor mats have been used at the Preble Street Resource Center, according to the city.

The Oxford Street Shelter, which opened in 1989 with just 50 beds, is a former three-story apartment building and attached auto garage where people sleep on floor mats. Over the years, its bed capacity has grown from 80 beds in 1996, to 108 beds in 1998, and 154 beds in 2000.

The City Council voted in June to build a new homeless shelter on Riverside Street, a move that has been opposed by area residents and homeless advocates, who fear the facility is too far from services and jobs on the peninsula.

The city has said it will offer a shuttle service to supplement an existing bus route to help shelter guests make it to their appointments. The new shelter will include a soup kitchen, medical clinic, community police station, and areas for counseling. Homeless individuals will be able to sleep in beds rather than on floor mats.

Despite having some reservations about the possibility of people being turned away, Ali said he will support the committee resolution – at least for the time being.

“Is this something my conscience will agree with?” Ali said, indicating he might change his mind by Monday’s meeting.

Councilor Kim Cook is not a member of the committee but attended the meeting and voiced concerns she has about the recommendation.

“For me, not setting a cap and providing an overflow area means we intend to build a shelter that is much larger than Oxford Street,” Cook told the committee. “I’m not OK with that.”

She asked the staff who were in attendance to provide the City Council with a more precise plan on the number of beds they envision in the shelter as well as the number of beds or mats that an overflow area could accommodate.

The City Council is scheduled to meet next Monday at 5:30 p.m. in Portland City Hall.