The Bellevue City Council voted 4-3 Monday night to move forward with a homeless shelter in the city’s Eastgate neighborhood. But the council has given itself a 45-day window to explore two other sites: one at Lincoln Center and one on land owned by Sound Transit.
The shelter would house 100 men each night and would be a low-barrier shelter, which means no one in need of help would be turned away.
The 4 acre site is just east of the Eastgate Park and Ride. It was on the top of the city's list because of the proximity to the Eastgate Public Health Center, the Eastgate Park and Ride and DSHS.
Residents say it is too close to neighborhoods, Bellevue College, and childcare facilities. Some neighbors worry it will increase loitering and crime in their neighborhoods. They say there are other sites that would be a better fit, and they say they are doing research the city failed to do when it narrowed a list of fourteen sites to six and then down to one.
But some neighbors, like Michael Brown, support it.
“I am very close to the proposed shelter,” he said, adding that he works for a non-profit that helps people with mental illness get jobs. “I am a young father and I am so excited to live in a community where my daughter gets to see people rallying behind those who stand in need.”
The shelter would be run by Congregations for the Homeless, which has been operating a men's homeless shelter that houses about 75 men and has not had a permanent location.
City councilmember Kevin Wallace told KIRO-7 there is another site that could be a better fit for the shelter where it would be a half mile from residents. That site is owned by Sound Transit and will eventually house a maintenance facility as part of the Sound Transit 3 project in the 1800 block of 120th Ave NE.
As part of the deal Sound Transit needs to provide low income housing on a portion of the property, Wallace thinks there is room for the shelter there too. Wallace credits council candidate Jared Nieuwenhuis who brought up the site as a possibility.
Wallace told KIRO-7 he is interested in the city considering that site and not just moving forward with the Eastgate site. He said Monday night that he did not realize how close the proposed Eastgate shelter site is to residential homes.
David Bowling with Congregations for the Homeless says he wants to work with the community and is hopeful the city will move forward with the Eastgate site. He said siting the shelter has been in the works for a couple of years and starting over with a new location possibility would increase the time it will take to get some of the homeless men in the area the services they need.
Cox Media Group
