Homelessness in SLC

The City Council is asking for your input on a proposed zoning amendment involving requirements for homeless resource centers.

Two new Homeless Resource Centers (HRCs) are being planned for Salt Lake City. The City Council is considering requirements that HRCs must comply with so that they are built and operate in a responsive and orderly way, making them positive additions and responsive to the neighborhoods.

These requirements are in the form of a proposed ordinance and would affect the conditions, or regulations for these types of centers. A draft of the ordinance is available

here.The new HRCs is a topic that affects all City residents and the public, regardless of how close to the new sites you are. Please consider the importance of the new buildings and service model, and be involved in this process; it’s one that affects our whole community.

The City Council is asking for your input on the proposed zoning amendment. A series of community meetings and other types of public engagement efforts have been conducted in the last year. That input helped to define the desires and needs of the community for these Centers, and informed the requirements that will affect how they are being designed, built, and eventually operated.

Two public hearings on the requirements are another step in adding your voice to the process:

Work Session briefing: August 29 (time TBD)

Public Hearing #1: September 19, 7 p.m. at City Hall

Public Hearing #2: October 3, 7 p.m. at City Hall

Online Survey

Please give your feedback on the requirements in a new survey on Open City Hall http://www.slcgov.com/opencityhall, the city’s online forum.

In the meantime, you also can attend any upcoming 7:00 p.m. formal meeting to address the full Council during the general comment period. Find out when the next formal meeting is here, or call 801-535-7600. For questions, comments, and concerns please email homelessinfo@slcgov.com. Your input will be shared with the Mayor and Council Members.

Background

Salt Lake City and its partners are in the process of adding to two Homeless Resource Centers to assist people in need. One of the next steps in the process is to write requirements the centers must comply with in order to operate within the City.

In January of 2017, Salt Lake City hosted a series of workshops, community meetings, and an online forum a topic on Open City Hall to gather feedback on the development of these rules, which are called “qualifying provisions”. The City’s Planning Division incorporated the feedback into a proposed ordinance to be considered by the City Council.

The proposed qualifying provisions have been reviewed by the Planning Commission, and they forwarded a positive recommendation to the City Council. The Council will conduct public hearings on September 19 and October 3 and then consider voting to adopt the ordinance creating qualifying provisions for the Homeless Resource Centers.

Goal of the Text Amendment

Create a definition of a homeless resource center
Identify homeless resource centers as a conditional use in zoning districts that currently permit homeless shelters
Establish qualifying provisions that mitigate adverse impacts of homeless resources centers and homeless shelters

Qualifying provisions

Homeless Resource Centers and Homeless Shelters are considered “conditional uses.” In order for them to operate, the following qualifying provisions must be met.

The overnight population of a Homeless Resource Center may not exceed 200 individuals
A security and operations plan shall be approved by the City prior to the conditional use approval that includes the following:

- Plan to facilitate regular communication between facility operator and the Community through a Neighborhood Coordinating Council
  - Complaint response program that includes strategies to maintain the premise in a clean and orderly condition, minimize conflicts and prohibit unlawful behavior
  - Commitment to facilitating meetings between the HRC rep and neighborhoods upon request to resolve neighborhood complaints
  - Plan to mitigate noise levels in compliance with City code
  - Design to ensure queuing takes place within the footprint of the principal building, and not on public streets or sidewalks
  - Designation of smoking location
  - Plan for trash removal
- Building and site design should incorporate design principles to prevent crime
- Maintenance plan to
  - Keep building and site free from graffiti, litter and garbage
  - Keep building maintained and in good repair
  - Keep fencing, walls, walkways and other site features maintained and in good repair

Additional Info

Visit the City’s Homeless Resource Centers webpage for more information, including the HRC site selection process document library. Additionally, visit the Council’s Homelessness Document Library for links to dozens of documents and videos relating to the process.