Stockbridge Adds Zoning for Homeless Shelters
STOCKBRIDGE — The city of Stockbridge has approved a test amendment to its Unified Development Code that will allow homeless shelters to be located within the city limits.
Community Development Director Ryan Anderson presented the text amendment to the City Council at its June 10 meeting. The council approved the amendment unanimously.
Anderson said the new code will allow shelters to provide refuge for individuals and families in urgent need or in times of emergency. Any applicant who requests to open a shelter will have to receive a special use permit from the city. In addition, shelters may be located only in OI, C2, C3 and LI zoning districts. He said these four zoning districts are most commonly designated for shelters in other jurisdictions.
They are not allowed in the residential areas or in Downtown or Parkway Mixed Use overlays.
Under the approved amendment, three tiers of shelters will be allowed, but only one of each can be located in the city:
♦ Tier 1 — specialized housing for no more than 30 days
♦ Tier 2 — temporary housing for no more than six months
♦ Tier 3 — temporary housing for no more than one year
Each shelter facility would be limited to 40 beds.
“We feel like this particular text amendment is needed to help combat the issue we have with the unhoused in the city because currently there is no provision in the UDC to allow for these types of facilities,” said Anderson. “We feel like this will be beneficial for the public, health and safety and for the overall city.”
Anderson said the shelter issue came to the forefront after the city received complaints from residents about housing encampments.
“People in need don’t have a place to go within the city, so we felt like it needed to be done out of a need basis,” he said.
He added that several applicants have inquired about opening a shelter, “however, we don’t have a process for it, we don’t have any provisions in the UDC to allow them to. But we get inquiries all the time.”
Resident Paula Neely spoke in favor of the shelter zoning, saying there is definitely a need in the city. Neely said she has seen unsheltered people sleeping under the city’s signature sign on Hudson Bridge Road.
“It’s a shame, it’s a shame,” she said. “We are all God’s children, and they need help because it could be us. But by the grace of God there go I.”