Homeless shelter crisis not declared in Arroyo Grande

Arroyo Grande will not join the ranks of Morro Bay, Paso Robles and the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors in declaring a homeless shelter crisis.

The City Council decided Tuesday night to not take such action, saying adequate shelter resources already are in place in the city, including a warming center that opens during inclement weather, and because the crisis declaration would only be helpful in setting aside city properties to serve as shelters.

“We don’t really have a facility in the city or a building that would fit with that sort of use, nor do we have any qualified staff that could man and operate such an operation,” Mayor Jim Hill said.

The county and several cities considered whether to declare a shelter crisis at the urging of the Homeless Services Oversight Council, an advisory panel to the county Board of Supervisors, so that government-owned or leased buildings could be used as overnight warming shelters. On Feb. 2, the supervisors declared a shelter crisis for the unincorporated areas of the county, setting aside $10,000 for warming centers and shelters, and requested that incorporated cities do the same. Morro Bay and Paso Robles followed suit on Feb. 9 and Feb. 17, respectively.

Arroyo Grande decided not to declare a crisis primarily because it already has a warming center at the county Department of Social Services office at 1086 Grand Ave. and because the 5 Cities Homeless Coalition — the city’s primary homeless-resources organization — already receives funds from the city to help pay for those sort of endeavors. The coalition also received a “sizable donation by the New Life Church that will enable them to continue operations of a warming shelter in the South County,” according to a city staff report.

Additionally, Hill said the shelter crisis would only be in effect until April 15 — less than two months — and would only impact city-owned facilities, not private buildings such as churches that might be interested in setting up an emergency shelter.

“Shelter crisis sounds good, but when you actually start drilling down to the meat of it, it’s probably not as substantial as the title would imply,” Hill said.

The council directed staff to prepare a letter to the county describing Arroyo Grande’s current activities related to homeless shelters.

City Manager Dianne Thompson said Wednesday that the letter will say the city recognizes the need to address homelessness in the community and will continue to work with the county, other jurisdictions and nonprofit partners in that effort, but that the city supports the warming shelter currently in operation and will likely continue to fund the 5 Cities Homeless Coalition in its work.

This story was originally published February 24, 2016 at 2:34 PM with the headline "Homeless shelter crisis not declared in Arroyo Grande."