Next Steps for Homeless Resource Centers

If you’re confused about who is doing what to help Salt Lake City’s homeless population, we get it! It’s complicated because there are several groups working on many different projects.

What the City Council is Doing

It’s the Council’s job to approve zoning requirements for two new Homeless Resource Centers (HRCs) that will provide shelter and important programs for people who are homeless.

On November 21, 2017 the Council adopted the zoning requirements that HRCs must comply with in order to operate in the City. These requirements, also called “qualifying provisions,” include rules about the maximum number of people who can stay at the resource centers, keeping the grounds clean, prohibiting people from lining up on public sidewalks and streets, and more. Read the requirements in the Council staff report.

The requirements are an important part of making sure the Resource Centers operate in an orderly, responsive manner and become positive additions to the neighborhoods where they will be built. Who else is involved? Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County and The Shelter the Homeless Board are working with an architect on the building and property designs for the Homeless Resource Centers. They recently hosted a series of public forums and open houses.

Background

The City, with the help of several partners, is building two Homeless Resource Centers in Salt Lake City in order to address crime and public safety issues associated with the current homeless services model. Rather than the current approach that features one large homeless shelter and related services in the same neighborhood, the City will build two Homeless Resource Centers in different neighborhoods that will serve much smaller populations. These will be paired with a new Resource Center Salt Lake County will build in South Salt Lake.

Designing, planning, and funding the HRCs are all major efforts that will have respective public processes. The Salt Lake City Council was tasked with adopting requirements that the HRCs will be required to comply with in order to operate in the City. The City asked the public in January 2017 to come up with the requirements. The City incorporated the public feedback it received into a proposal that the City Council considered.