St. Cloud City Council Sets Public Hearings on January 13th for Lincoln Center Permit and Temporary Shelter Stays

(KNSI) — The St. Cloud City Council will hold a public hearing January 13th to look at whether to amend the land development code to allow longer stays in temporary homeless shelters.

In November, the operator of the Lincoln Center Homeless Shelter went in front of the Zoning Board of Appeals to ask for the amendment, saying the 45 or 90 days allowed now isn’t enough time to connect people with services or address issues they may have. The ZBA agreed, and it moved on to the St. Cloud Planning Commission who recommended the measure to allow the facilities to extend the maximum stay for 10% of their guests to 180 days. It would up the cap on everyone else to 120 days.

Anna Marie’s Alliance Executive Director Charles Hempeck was at that meeting and is lobbying for no cap. “In the state of Minnesota, Anna Marie’s Alliance is currently the only domestic violence shelter that has an ordinance that’s limiting the length of stay that families or individuals can stay at their shelter.”

Captain Nate North of the local Salvation Army hopes the number of residents eligible for an extension also changes. He says about 30 to 40 percent of people need more time than they are currently given. “A lot of times, what we’re seeing is that it takes a week or two for people to get comfortable with the case managers, with their surroundings, for it really to be effective, for them to be able to effectively take the next step.”

A public hearing will be held that same night as Homeless Helping Homeless Executive Director Harry Fleegel is appealing the ZBA’s denial of his request to amend several conditions of Lincoln Center’s existing conditional use permit. He is asking for a reduction in the minimum staffing requirements, an increase in maximum capacity, allow sleeping outside in tents or cars, and to allow for the transformation of a portion of the building into a day center. He says the city has cited him for numerous violations of the CUP and if the CUP was amended, they wouldn’t have to cite him anymore.

The meeting gets underway at 6:00 at city hall.

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