ST. LOUIS 鈥 City officials want to make it easier to open homeless shelters here. So they鈥檙e looking to gut neighborhoods鈥 power to vote them out.
The planning department, urged on by Aldermanic President Megan Green, is proposing the elimination of a provision in the law that requires shelter providers to gather signatures from a majority of their closest neighbors before they can open. Plans for new shelters would be considered by a board of top city officials instead. And in many areas, a provider housing eight or fewer people at a time could skip the board, too.
It鈥檚 all an attempt to do something about a longstanding problem: The city doesn鈥檛 have enough beds for all of its homeless. Yet shelters can鈥檛 persuade residents to let a new site open up in their neighborhood. That leaves many people without the help they need, and the city contending with camping on the riverfront, outside downtown businesses, and, in recent weeks, under Mayor Tishaura O. Jones鈥 window at City Hall.
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鈥淚f we continue at a place where every neighborhood says 鈥榥ot in my backyard,鈥 we end up at a place where we don鈥檛 have the shelter capacity that we need,鈥 said Green.
Supporters are hoping the change will encourage the development of smaller shelters that blend into neighborhoods and broaden access to services across the city. That could ease the burden on downtown and the near north side, where, much to the chagrin of residents and business owners there, most of the existing resources are concentrated.
鈥淚t shouldn鈥檛 just be saturated in one area,鈥 said Alderman Rasheen Aldridge, who represents part of downtown and the near north side.
But leaders elsewhere are wary. The current process requires an operator to get signatures from a majority of the property owners or registered voters within 500 feet of the site. And they say that process forces operators to engage with the surrounding community, explain their plans, listen to concerns and make adjustments.
鈥淲hy,鈥 said Jim Dwyer, a longtime resident and businessman in the Central West End, 鈥渨ould you disenfranchise those who would be most immediately impacted?鈥
Alderman Tom Oldenburg, of 狐狸视频 Hills, said the end result would be lower quality of life around the city.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 just turn the whole system upside down,鈥 he said.
The petition process is a time-honored tradition in the city, used for decades to ensure neighborhood approval of new arrivals. But the concept has been falling out of favor in recent years: City planners describe it as outdated and onerous, and recommend replacing it with administrative hearings before the Board of Public Service, a body composed of seven department directors appointed by the mayor.
Residents can still show up to the hearings and make their voices heard. And the board can impose conditions on a proposed development, such as limitations on hours of operation or the number of people served. But no one has to walk around and ask for signatures on a petition like they鈥檙e running for office.
In recent years, aldermen have applied that logic to hotels, arcades, day cares and rehab facilities, among other things. This past spring, Alderman Bret Narayan, of Dogtown, introduced a plan to let some restaurants get liquor licenses without petitions.
Now, Green says, it鈥檚 time to do the same for shelters.
She and her progressive allies, including Jones, campaigned on making City Hall do better by the unhoused. And they鈥檝e made progress on adding shelter beds, keeping them open 24/7 and working with partners to open a special new place for people with severe mental illness and substance abuse disorders.
But they still need more space, and getting it has been a struggle. Peter & Paul Community Services has been trying for two years to get a new, 100-bed building. It has a 40-year track record of providing services in Soulard, and millions of dollars in federal money to spend. But resident opposition has forced leaders to back off two sites in south city so far, and there鈥檚 no guarantee their latest target, in the industrial area east of Soulard, will be any different.
鈥淚t鈥檚 politicking,鈥 said Peter & Paul CEO Anthony D鈥橝gostino. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter what you say, if someone comes in and starts fear-mongering, it鈥檚 over.鈥
Dealing with officials could be significantly easier, he said.
Green is also hopeful that the changes will supercharge the opening of smaller shelters like those set up by the nonprofit Assisi House in recent years. Designed to blend into their neighborhoods, they generally offer housing to between 10-15 people at a time. They built one in Tower Grove East when Green was an aldermen.
鈥淲e got next to zero complaints,鈥 she said.
Still, opponents are skeptical.
Oldenburg, the alderman, said the city has a bad track record with enforcing the kinds of conditions it would put on most shelters. He鈥檚 been fighting to get something done about a car wash-turned-used car dealership for four years now.
And he said eight-person shelters didn鈥檛 sound like they鈥檇 be much help.
鈥淭his is just another pie-in-the-sky progressive idea,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 going to be broad support.鈥
The city鈥檚 Planning Commission will consider proposed changes at its meeting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in the 2nd Floor Board Room at 1520 Market Street.
The meeting can be viewed remotely at .
The matter will then go before the Board of Aldermen for further consideration.