News

Nov 07, 2023

Commissioners approve lease for homeless shelter in downtown Tillamook

The Tillamook County Courthouse Tillamook County’s Board of Commissioners

The Tillamook County Courthouse

Tillamook County's Board of Commissioners approved a lease for Community Action Resource Enterprises to place one no-barrier and several low-barrier shelters on county land on First Street in Tillamook on May 31.

Commissioners also signaled their intention to approve the expansion of a subdivision in Oceanside after a public notice period, recognized Juneteenth as a county holiday and named June "Celebrate Local Food Month" in Tillamook County.

The lease approval for Community Action Resource Enterprises’ (CARE) request to build new shelters on the property on First Street adjacent to the post office, Hoquarton House and CARE's headquarters drew unusual dissenst among board members. Commissioner David Yamamoto expressed "grave concerns" about the process used in the lease application and abstained from the eventual vote for approval.

Dusti Lannell, the chair of CARE's board of directors, presented the organization's planned project for the leased land, which would initially include the installation one communal shelter and six smaller units on the property. The larger communal shelter would have no barriers for entry, operating like CARE's temporary warming shelters that are open in the winter and accept people on a night-to-night basis.

The smaller shelters would come in two sizes, housing either one or two individuals, or families between two and four people. The smaller shelters would serve as transitional housing and require residents complete an application process. The shelters would be drug free and residents would be connected with employment, social and housing services to help them progress into permanent housing.

According to CARE's application for the lease, the units would be located behind a fence with a gate, shielding them from public view. There would also be two bathrooms, one of which would be ADA compliant. The lease will cost care one dollar annually and run through 2062, matching the duration of the lease of the adjacent Hoquarton House.

Funds for the project are coming from behavioral health and resource networks created by Measure 110 that are designated to help provide shelter for those suffering from substance use disorders.

The shelters and bathrooms for the site would be purchased from Pallet Shelter, a Washington based company that makes modular structures designed to address housing emergencies. CARE hopes to have the shelters and bathrooms installed at the site by September 2023.

A planned second phase of the plan would add ten small shelters, four family shelters, more standalone bathrooms and a navigation center with additional bathrooms, a full kitchen, laundry facilities and office workstations by September 2024.

After consulting with Tillamook City Manager Nathan George, Tillamook Police Chief Nathan Rau, County Commissioner Erin Skaar and County Housing Coordinator TJ Fiorelli, the team from CARE decided that the property abutting their headquarters and behind two county parking lots was the "perfect" location for the project.

However, Yamamoto quickly expressed concerns about the project, which he felt had been rushed before the board without sufficient opportunity for public feedback. He noted that the proposed project had only been announced in a press release the previous Thursday and it had not been published in the county prior to the meeting.

Yamamoto also expressed concerns about CARE's operations and ability to operate the shelter and what responsibilities the county would have should issues arise. He noted that CARE is currently without an executive director and alluded to financial issues at the organization several times, saying, "I maybe know a little more about the finances of CARE than I should."

Linnell answered each of Yamamoto's concerns. She said that CARE has recently completed a complete financial audit returning no worrying findings and stressed that this project would be funded by Measure 110. Linell also said that CARE had something "better" than an executive director with a consortium of board members and other locals working together to carry out those functions.

As for Yamamoto's concerns about a rushed process, Linnell noted that House Bill 2006, which allows city planners to fast track the approval of shelters to combat the homelessness crisis, is expiring at the end of June, prompting the quick action.

Linnell said that CARE had not publicized the planning of the project previously because they felt it was hard to gather public feedback before identifying a site to allow for better evaluation. She also noted that failure to construct more shelters in the county would run afoul of Oregon's "Right to Rest" law and allow homeless people to legally camp in public right of ways due to lack of alternative.

Skaar, who served as executive director of CARE prior to her election as county commissioner, then jumped in to further address Yamamoto's concerns. She pointed out that the lease's terms only allowed for shelters for this purpose and required that CARE maintain and operate them, or the land would revert to county ownership with no requirement to continue the shelter's operation.

Skaar also noted that work at the site would require review and approval from the board of commissioners and that the lease only represented the first step in the process. She said that she worried delaying approval of the lease would give local opposition an opportunity to emerge. She said that the county was at a critical point in its response to the homelessness crisis and that it needed to provide options to move people off the street.

Yamamoto reiterated that his objections were to the process that had been employed, saying that he thought the shelter proposal or something similar to it would be beneficial to the county, but that he felt the cart had been put before the horse.

That left Commissioner Mary Faith Bell as the deciding vote on the matter. Bell said that she understood Yamamoto's concerns but that she felt they were coming in large part because he had been out of the county on county business in the past several weeks. She said that in his absence, several meetings had been held to address concerns the other commissioners had had similar to his.

Bell said she was in favor of approving the lease and both she and Skaar voted in favor, while Yamamoto abstained.

The declaration of June as "Celebrate Local Food Month" in Tillamook County came in support of the efforts of Food Roots, an organization that has promoted awareness and support of local food options in the county.

Juneteenth will be recognized by the county on June 19, with staff not required to maintain critical services receiving a day off. Juneteenth was recognized as a federal holiday in 2021 and recognizes the abolition of slavery.

After dealing with their regular agenda, the commissioners held a public hearing about the expansion of the Avalon Heights/Cougar Ridge subdivision in Oceanside. The subdivision was built with this expansion in mind but had been delayed multiple times due to issues with the planning process.

The subdivision's developer said that he was frustrated with the slow progress and needed the approval to determine whether he would continue with the project or be forced to abandon plans for other work.

Commissioners apologized for the delays and voiced their enthusiasm for the project, which will be completed in three phases to be completed this year and in 2025 and 2027. The approval will be formalized at the board's June 21 meeting, allowing the developer to begin the platting process.

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