Jefferson City considers new shelter regulations amid advocates’ concerns
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
Jefferson City officials are considering new regulations for homeless shelters, drawing concerns from local advocates about how the rules could affect existing services.
The Jefferson City Public Works and Planning Commission voted Thursday morning to send a proposed ordinance regulating shelters to the City Council.
The ordinance would apply to overnight shelters, severe-weather shelters, soup kitchens and day/resource centers. Domestic violence shelters, group homes, foster homes and disaster-relief shelters would be exempt from the regulations.
Under the draft ordinance, overnight shelters would need a safety plan outlining procedures for handling violent or intoxicated people, missing or endangered people, and medical and behavioral health emergencies. The plan also would need to establish when staff should call 911 or handle incidents internally. The city’s fire chief, police chief and director of the Planning and Protective Services Department would need to approve the plan.
The proposal would require shelters and related facilities to obtain permits and renew them annually. Overnight shelters, soup kitchens and day/resource centers also would need an approved neighborhood plan outlining regular communication with nearby property owners and how operators would respond to feedback.
The proposal comes less than a month after the Jefferson City Council rejected a rezoning request for a proposed homeless shelter at 107 Adams St. The proposal would have included a day center with showers and resources to help people find employment and housing.
The Public Works and Planning Committee’s meeting packet also included correspondence from community members, including Melinda Jennings of the Salvation Army and the city’s Task Force on Homelessness, which Mayor Ron Fitzwater assembled in 2024.
The task force asked the city to amend portions of the proposed ordinance, including removing provisions dictating shelter hours, limiting the length of stays and requiring clients to provide government-issued identification before entering a shelter.
Susan Cook, vice chairwoman of the task force and executive director of River City Habitat for Humanity, said she supports regulating shelters but has concerns about the draft ordinance.
Cook submitted more than 30 recommended revisions on behalf of the task force. Among them was a recommendation to remove a requirement that shelters maintain a roster of each guest’s name, last place of residence and photo or government-issued identification.
Instead, the task force recommended requiring an “emergency accountability roster” containing “the minimum information necessary for emergency operations.” Cook also expressed concerns the ordinance would not grandfather-in existing shelters, such as the Salvation Army, potentially putting their ability to provide services at risk.
Under the proposal, the director of the Planning and Protective Services Department could revoke a shelter’s operating permit for violations of the ordinance.
“What happens to those people that are outside when it gets really cold?” Cook said.
Cook said she plans to host an event next week with community members who work with unhoused people to explain the proposed ordinance and gather more feedback for the city.
Scott Johnston, president of Housing the Community Jefferson City, said he is particularly concerned about the proposal’s restrictions on severe-weather shelters.
Under the draft ordinance, a severe-weather shelter could open no earlier than 24 hours before a forecast severe-weather event and would have to close within 24 hours after the event ends.
The proposal defines severe-weather events to include certain periods of extreme cold, including wind chill temperatures below 10 degrees Fahrenheit, as well as heavy snow and flooding.
Johnston said the temperature threshold is too low and could put unhoused people at risk during the winter.
Housing the Community Jefferson City operates Jefferson City Room at the Inn, an overnight shelter that operates during the winter months. The shelter is open almost every night from December through March.
Johnston said he is unsure whether Room at the Inn would be classified as a severe-weather shelter or an overnight shelter under the proposed ordinance because he found the definitions unclear. The draft defines a severe-weather shelter as one that is “only open during severe weather events.”
Johnston said he supports establishing regulations for shelters but believes the proposed language needs work.
“I don’t know of anybody really that’s opposing the idea of an ordinance that makes shelters safer. But it’s the current language, it’s not the idea,” Johnston said.
Click here to follow the original article.