ATHENS, Ohio — Dozens of area residents packed Athens City Council chambers Monday night for a hearing on an ordinance that would allow The Gathering Place to install three temporary shelters in its parking lot on North Congress Street.
Approximately 30 speakers divided into two factions — those in favor and those opposed — spoke for over an hour before the council’s regular meeting Oct. 20.
In its regular meeting, the council amended the first reading of the project’s related legislation, Ordinance 112-25, to require annual project reviews by the service-safety director, rather than every two years.
The project involves installing three Conestoga Huts on property owned by The Gathering Place. Each shelter would house one individual receiving peer support from The Gathering Place.
The ordinance would allow the huts as an accessory use at 1, 5 and 7 N. Congress St., within a parking lot zoned R-3, or multifamily housing. The ordinance requires toilet access and sinks within 200 feet. Proponents of the project said although the project is small, it will help alleviate the area’s housing shortage. Larger projects, such the upcoming overnight shelter at the former Sunset Motel, are still far from completion, they noted. The Sunsent Motel shelter is expected to include 27 units and accommodate up to 48 individuals.
Several detractors who spoke said they support The Gathering Place and its mission, but believe other locations would be better suited for the huts than North Congress Street. They also mentioned safety concerns.
Michele Papai, a longtime North Congress Street resident, said the last time Athens City Council received such a huge turnout for a public hearing, the matter also involved housing.
“All I want to say is: It takes a lot of broad shoulders to be a council person, and to listen to all of the community,” Papai said. “And I’m hoping you have the broad shoulders to support the Conestoga Huts.”
Kay Enger, a resource navigator with Legal Aid of Southeast and Central Ohio, said on her own behalf that she has spent thousands of hours around clients who are in substance abuse rehabilitation settings and homeless shelters. Those clients, once housed, are focused on treatment and recovery, she said.
“I’m a little concerned to hear the kind of ‘we versus them’ sense in here,” Enger said. “The reality is, we are them.”
Megan Benjamin and Norah Gustafson, two Ohio University interns at The Gathering Place, said most North Congress Street residents they surveyed either supported the Conestoga Huts or had no concerns. Only two respondents of 34 were opposed.
Reading comments from residents surveyed, Gustafson said one spoke of a homeless person who lost a leg from sleeping on a bench during the winter.
“Don’t let your prejudices speak louder than your compassion,” Gustafson said.
But safety concerns about the project, especially by some female OU students — in particular, those representing 10 living in a nearby house — were made known.
“A lot of my roommates work at bars and they have to walk home late at night by themselves, and they already feel unsafe having to do that in the first place,” said North Congress resident Grace Pavich. “There’s just a lot of safety concerns and a little bit of uneasiness.”
Allison Perry, a roommate of Pavich, said the issue is where the huts would be located, offering that in a house of all-female students, “We’re not very good at defending ourselves if something were to happen.”
Ginger Schmalenberg, executive director of The Gathering Place, said there are 15 cameras monitoring the site grounds.
“I am planning on putting vulnerable women that we serve in these huts, because that is what seems to be the most needed,” she said. “I am not saying they will always be women.”
Schmalenberg said that she has video allegedly showing that one of residents of the house where Pavich and Perry live, who “was obviously under the influence,” breaking the chain on The Gathering Place front porch, stealing a chair and then throwing it into the side yard. Schmalenberg said her program manager recognized the individual and talked to the residents.
Schmalenberg added that no apologies were given, but The Gathering Place did not pursue police charges or contact Ohio University “because I believe in second chances.” But she said “themes of fear” about the Conestoga Hut project are inappropriate.
Aaron Leatherwood, a Coventry Lane resident, said locating the huts within 200 feet of Athens Middle School is unwise, as the city and its Uptown are where a lot of substances, mostly alcohol, are already consumed. Placing the Conestoga Huts so close to Uptown “is not an environment that is conducive to recovery,” he said.
Nick Tepe, who spoke as an individual, said the safety concerns are misdirected. Tepe, who has worked in public libraries for 25 years, said that most area library patrons who are disruptive to other patrons are teens, or individuals who have some sort of issue with the libraries — not unhoused people.
“If you have nowhere to go, you don’t want to get kicked out of one of the few places you are allowed to go,” Tepe said of public libraries.
Autumn Brown, a board member at The Gathering Place who has been involved in temporary shelters for unhoused persons, said the Conestoga Huts Pilot Project has been in the making for a few years and carefully thought out. There will be close monitoring, the facilities will be maintained, and the individual residents of each hut will be carefully selected, she offered.
During the council’s discussion of Ordinance 112-25, Solveig Spjeldnes, 1st Ward, said one of the project support letters came from Kerry Pigman, executive director of the Athens County Foundation. Pigman’s communication spoke to creating a practical step toward alleviating the housing crisis in the Athens area by providing safety and dignity in the form of the huts for individuals who are unhoused and seeking permanent housing.
Spjeldnes said that in her 17 years in Athens, 13 spent as an OU social work professor, she knew many students who volunteered at The Gathering Place. Two were her own sons, one of whom volunteered there for four-and-a-half years. She said she was “emphatically” stating that at no time were there issues of violence issues occurring at The Gathering Place, which has existed since 1976.
Elmwood Place resident Jack Stauffer said placing unhoused persons in huts on North Congress Street speaks to “being a political statement or a political stunt.” The huts could be located in much more private settings that would benefit the occupants with more privacy, such as the Athens County Fairgrounds, he said.
“Let our sweet little town remain our sweet little town,” Stauffer said, adding that he represented a group of concerned residents. “You don’t have to put the homeless on display, on Congress Street, unless that is your point and intention.”
Following nearly an hour and 20 minutes of audience comments, council President Sam Crowl said that letters the council has received about the project would not be read into the record. Stauffer voiced his objection to that decision, but Crowl noted that the letters are available as public records through records requests.
In other matters Monday, the council:
- Unanimously amended on second reading Ordinance 104-25, which would establish an unoccupied and vacant property registration to chapter 29.37 of the city code. The amendment to 29.37.07(C) removes licensed state realtor language and will read, “A property that is for sale and the owner submits proof of such listing and for-sale status, shall be exempted for a period of 12 months from the start of vacancy provided that the owner submits proof of such listing and for sale status.” The purpose of the ordinance is to identify and register vacant residential, residential and commercial properties to speed them along toward rehabilitation and productive use. It establishes annual fees, inspections and penalties for non-compliance.
- Heard second reading of related ordinances 100-25 and 101-25, which authorize a pre-annexation agreement and water line development along Jacobs Street, respectively, tied to the city’s future annexation from the county of the Athens County Children Services property at 18 Stonybrook Drive. The annexation is necessary so the city can serve a new building being constructed by children services with a larger, expanded water line.
- Heard second reading of Ordinance 106-25, which establishes a “Do Not Knock” registration program for homeowners through the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council.
- Heard second reading of Ordinance 110-25, set to establish a cybersecurity policy within the city.
- Adopted upon third reading Ordinance 85-25, which requires a permit from the Service-Safety Director to place dumpsters, moving pods or construction trailers on sidewalks or streets. It also sets standards for temporary closure of streets and sidewalks.
- Adopted upon third reading Ordinance 96-25, which appropriates $10,000 from the General Fund’s “Other Funds” line item toward Ohio’s Imagination Library, part of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. More than 800 children in Athens County ages birth through five are registered to receive free books mailed monthly .
Athens City Council’s next regular meeting will be Monday, Oct. 27, at Athens City Hall, Council Chambers, third floor, 8 E. Washington St. Meetings are also streamed online. Regular sessions are on the first and third Mondays of the month; committee meetings are on the second and fourth Mondays.
Note and correction: This article was updated around 11 a.m. Oct. 28 to clarify that Nick Tepe spoke as an individual; not in his professional capacities. His statements do not reflect those of his employer. Additionally, the Sunset Motel overnight shelter is anticipated to house up to 48 individuals; not 80, as incorrectly originally published. We apologize for this error.
Note: This article was updated 7:45 p.m. Nov. 5 to remove a screenshot image of a member of the public who spoke at the council meeting, at their request.
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